Election 2025: Children become political fodder in Climate 200 ad

Climate 200 has used children in a political ad that depicts them quoting Peter Dutton and his MPs on climate and energy policy, prompting criticism from the Coalition and youth psychologists.

A still from the Climate 200 video with the children quoting Coalition MPs.

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Climate 200 has used children in a political ad that depicts them quoting Peter Dutton and his MPs on climate and energy policy, prompting criticism from the Coalition and youth psychologists that the pro-independent fundraising group should “let kids be kids”.

The TV ad shows the children parroting the Opposition Leader saying he’ll be the “best friend the mining and resource sector has ever had”, Nationals senator Matt Canavan arguing “it’s time we dumped net zero” and Liberal senator Alex Antic declaring “we should be drilling baby, drilling”.

The youngsters – who are paid actors – end the ad, which is overlaid with emotive music and imagery of bushfires and floods, making an appeal to viewers that “we can’t vote” and “we need you to vote for our future” and pushing them toward Climate 200 funded independents. 

Senator Canavan said the use of children was “pretty desperate” and served Climate 200’s “own self-interested political purposes”, adding it would be more ­appropriate to “shield kids from politics, and let kids be kids”.

“We’re in this energy mess ­because we’ve refused to listen to the adults, who know how electricity is made and how important energy is,” Senator Canavan said.

Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes a Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“It’s about time we drop the juvenile propaganda tactics, and instead base our plans on the real-world engineering needed to keep a modern industrial economy functioning.”

The ad also quoted Nationals leader David Littleproud saying “I don’t give a rats if it’s man made or not”, and Nationals MP Colin Boyce saying “it’s preposterous to suggest computer models can predict the climate future”.

The political funding outfit, which has bankrolled the campaigns of teal and independent candidates since 2019, defended the ad on the grounds that responsible steps had been taken during filming, including providing the child actors and their families with the material beforehand. “Their parents were on set throughout filming and the guidelines from the Office of Children’s Guardian adhered to.”

“The actors performing in the ad were engaged through a specialist children’s casting agency and production company,” a Climate 200 spokesman said.

The Coalition said modelling showed emissions would be lower under its energy plan prior to 2050 than Labor’s renewables-­focused policy, criticising the Simon Holmes a Court-led movement for being focused on funding the teals instead of coming to the table.

“If they were serious about climate change, Climate 200 would back our plan for emissions-free nuclear energy, but they are too busy supporting the teals and their sign-stealing volunteers,” a Coalition spokesman said.

Child and adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said while there was no evidence to suggest participating in such an ad would cause harm to youngsters, he was concerned the use of children risked “normalising their instrumentalisation and exposing them to adult anxieties”.

“This would be illegal in some countries like India, where the election commission bans all child involvement in campaigns, including rallies or imagery, with zero tolerance for violations in political campaigns. Using children risks violating their rights to privacy, dignity, and protection from manipulation,” Dr Carr-Gregg said.

“In my view as a child psychologist, children under 14 should never be involved in political communications, as their age and maturity make them vulnerable to exploitation. Children should not be used as props or symbols and to do so, in my opinion, is wrong.”

Child and adolescent psychologist Clare Rowe, who also works for the Institute of Public Affairs, raised concerns that even when children appear “confident and articulate” in an ad there could leave an “emotional residue or burden”. “From a psychological point of view, it is highly problematic and just completely inappropriate to be using children in this way,” she said.

“I mean, these are clearly primary school age children, and they’re reciting politically loaded quotes from politicians that they certainly don’t understand.”

Clinical psychologist Adam Guastella said he did not believe the ad would cause harm but using children in political advertising could be “problematic”, and if more extremist political messages had been used “it will be far more obvious to how inappropriate it can be”.

“It’s starting to set up precedents that could very quickly ­become problematic,” Professor Guastella said.