Comedian suddenly deletes dozens of anti-Liberal posts

A company run by comedian Dan Ilic, which received $588k from Climate 200 in the 2022 election, has removed dozens of unauthorised images attacking the Coalition on Instagram.

The social media page run by Sydney comedian Dan Ilic, which attacked the Coalition during the last election campaign, has suddenly deleted dozens of political posts which were missing an official political “authorisation”.

It comes after this masthead revealed Mr Ilic’s company “It’s Not A Race” received $588,000 worth of donations from political machine Climate 200 in 2022.

Mr Ilic used Instagram three years ago to bombard the Liberals and Nationals with a wave of satirical videos and photos. At the time, he described his strategy as “Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce’s worst nightmare” … and said they were “really trying to unseat the Coalition … rattle the cage wherever we can.”

Much of the content made by It’s Not A Race during the 2022 election was specifically criticising Liberal MPs in seats which were at risk from a Climate 200-supported candidate. That included Wentworth, Mackellar, North Sydney, Kooyong and Goldstein.

Dan Ilic.

Analysis of the It’s Not A Race Instagram page from three years ago discovered a range of still images which did not contain an official political authorisation — as generally required under election rules.

The AEC has outlined that any social media influencers and accounts who are “communicating electoral matter by or on behalf of a … registered significant third party, the communication must be authorised.”

After bringing this to his attention, Mr Ilic told this masthead: “We’ve taken them down. They should have been authorised by It’s Not A Race. It looks like some of the content wasn’t authorised, but the videos were. Thanks for letting us know. We will remove the unauthorised content immediately to avoid confusion to the audience” he said.

The posts from “It’s Not A Race” in 2022 – specifically targeting Liberal MPs who were being challenged by a Climate 200 candidate. They have now been deleted. Picture: Instagram

Mr Ilic has so far declined to explain why It’s Not A Race received three large donations totalling $495,000 from Climate 200 on April 21, 2022. An additional payment for $93,500 was received on May 4, 2022.

More than 60 anti-Liberal political ads were published on social media by Mr Ilic’s company between the first donations from Climate 200 and the date of the election – at the rate of roughly three per day.

When voters went to the polls on May 21, 2022, the traditional blue-ribbon seats of Wentworth, Mackellar, North Sydney, Kooyong and Goldstein all fell to an independent supported by Climate 200.

Mr Ilic’s company It’s Not A Race has now renewed its onslaught on social media in recent weeks, with a string of attacks on Peter Dutton and other members of his team. They include comparing Liberal frontbenchers to The Muppets, an impersonator of Mr Dutton and altered images mocking Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

2022 anti-Liberal political posts by comedian Dan Ilic’s company “It’s Not A Race” have been suddenly deleted after it was discovered they did not contain an appropriate authorisation. Picture: Supplied

It’s Not A Race has also released a “strategic voting” explainer video, which encourages people to support a “community-backed independent” which will ensure “the Liberals lose a seat that Dutton needs to form government.”

Mr Ilic also recently told his followers:

“You see, a fossil fuel-funded major party only holds the balance of power in the lower house by one seat. This election, if we can put a few more climate action oriented crossbench in, then climate change will be taken seriously by the Australian government for the very first time” the video says.

Climate 200, who are supporting candidates in more than 30 seats ahead of May 3, have declined to confirm if Mr Illic’s company have been given additional donations paid money during this campaign.

The details of all political donations for this current campaign won’t be available to the public until at least October, with more declarations released by February 2026.

Mr Ilic further claimed: “the AEC has found us to be compliant.”

This masthead has sent a range of questions to the AEC about Mr Ilic’s political campaigning – both in 2022 and 2025.

The AEC have been unable to effectively respond due to the Easter long weekend.

Originally published as Comedian suddenly deletes dozens of anti-Liberal posts