Institute of Public Affairs
People, publications, campaigns, funding disclosures and political links.
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04 · NETWORK MAP
The organisations in the files
Inclusion records a research relationship to examine. It does not, by itself, establish direction, control, funding or coordinated action.
Mont Pèlerin Society
A membership society with documented Australian office-holders and overlaps across several organisations in these files.
Statement of Aims ↗Atlas Network
A global network offering partner organisations training, grants, awards and connections.
Official FAQ ↗Political links
Employment, declarations, adviser roles, campaigns and documented contact.
Victorian files ↗Australia and New Zealand: publicly documented Atlas organisations
The ABC reported in January 2026 that Atlas had ten partners across Australia and New Zealand, but also found that Atlas had stopped publishing their names. The entries below record the organisations for which a public directory, official Atlas material or credible current reporting can be inspected. “Historical” does not mean the relationship continues today.
Institute of Public Affairs
Atlas described the IPA as a partner when it made the organisation a 2015 Templeton Freedom Award finalist for its carbon-tax campaign. IPA staff also attended Atlas training in Sydney in 2018.
Centre for Independent Studies
CIS appeared in the former Atlas directory, took part in Atlas training in 2018 and has publicly described its Atlas connection as one of shared classical-liberal ideas. Founder Greg Lindsay served as Mont Pèlerin Society president from 2006 to 2008.
Australian Institute for Progress
Recorded in a previous public Atlas partner directory. The presently available evidence establishes historical listing; it does not establish current partner status.
Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance
Recorded in the former Atlas directory. Satya Marar of ATA appears in Atlas’s official record of its 2018 Sydney training workshop.
LibertyWorks
Recorded in the former Atlas directory. President Andrew Cooper took part in Atlas’s 2018 training workshop and is also a co-founder of CPAC Australia.
Mannkal Economic Education Foundation
Recorded in the former Atlas directory and currently describes itself as a proud Atlas Network member. Mannkal representatives attended Atlas training in 2018; founder Ron Manners received Atlas’s Sir Antony Fisher Achievement Award in 2020.
New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union
Publicly acknowledges membership of Atlas Network and says Atlas has provided professional development, scholarships, grants and international opportunities.
The New Zealand Initiative
Executive director Oliver Hartwich has publicly discussed the organisation’s Atlas relationship. ABC reporting documents its policy work on New Zealand’s regulatory standards legislation.
H.R. Nicholls Society
ABC reporting and the organisation’s archived material identify it as an Atlas partner in 2018. Its work focuses on industrial relations and trade-union regulation.
Australian Libertarian Society
Atlas’s official report records Society president John Humphreys participating in its 2018 Think Tank Essentials workshop. The available source does not by itself establish Atlas partner status.
Adjacent campaign and conference networks
Advance, CPAC Australia and FixVictoria are included because of documented personnel, funding, training or event overlaps with people in the IPA- and Atlas-linked ecosystem. Inclusion does not establish that any of them is an Atlas partner or directed by the IPA.
Advance
Advance Aus Ltd, formerly Advance Australia, is an AEC-registered significant third party rather than a think tank. Its early advisory council included Maurice Newman, Sam Kennard and David Adler. The Liberal-linked Cormack Foundation gave Advance $500,000 in 2023–24, its largest disclosed contribution for that year.
CPAC Australia
An Australian conservative conference and networking organisation modelled on American CPAC. It was co-founded by Andrew Cooper, president of Atlas-linked LibertyWorks. That personnel overlap is documented; it does not make CPAC an Atlas partner.
Gideon “Giddy” Rozner
Documented roles: The IPA identifies Rozner as its former Director of Policy. Atlas Network records that Rozner and IPA colleague Daniel Wild attended its May 2018 Los Angeles film and storytelling workshop. The Australian Jewish Association currently lists Rozner as a committee member; the AJA describes itself as a membership-based community organisation guided by “authentic Torah values” and “centre-right Australian values”. In August 2026 Rozner announced that he had joined FixVictoria; current reporting identifies him as its head of advocacy and membership.
Pro-Israel advocacy connection: The AJA says that contributions support its advocacy “on behalf of the Jewish community and Israel”, while its speaker program explores issues affecting “the Jewish community, Israel, & Australia”. Those first-party statements support describing the AJA as a pro-Israel advocacy organisation for the purpose of this network map.
Political connection: On 17 November 2025, Rozner publicly said he had applied to rejoin the Liberal Party in support of Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson.
Evidence limit: These records confirm the stated roles and personnel overlap. They do not establish that the IPA, Atlas Network, Australian Jewish Association or Liberal Party directs or funds FixVictoria, or that the organisations coordinate their activities. The AJA role is an organisational connection; it is not evidence of Rozner’s personal identity, motive or position on every issue. FixVictoria describes itself as independent and non-partisan; Guardian Australia reported in August 2026 that it declined to identify major donors, citing privacy.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation
Included for documented comparison of current national and Victorian policies with the IPA’s published policy lists. Similar policy language is evidence of a policy parallel, not by itself evidence of funding, direction, copying or coordination.
IPA promotion of March for Australia
In August 2026 the IPA used its public Facebook platform to promote the nationwide 30 August March for Australia. One post described the moment as “all hands on deck” in defence of Australians’ rights, while IPA videos linked the march to its polling and campaigns about free speech, national identity and Australia Day. An April 2026 IPA article had already praised the earlier March for Australia demonstrations while arguing for lower migration.
What this establishes: the IPA publicly encouraged attention and participation and incorporated the march into its immigration, identity and free-speech messaging. What it does not establish: the available evidence does not show that the IPA organised, funded or formally partnered with March for Australia, nor that the IPA endorses every participant or extremist ideology.
Movement context: ABC News Verify reported in January 2026 that some people working behind the scenes of earlier marches had encouraged recruitment to the former White Australia Party, then the political arm of the National Socialist Network. ABC reporting also documented former NSN members at January rallies. Those findings concern organisers or participants in the wider movement; they are not evidence of an IPA–NSN relationship.
05 · ADVANCE
People, money and campaign machinery
Advance Aus Ltd—formerly branded Advance Australia—is a political campaign organisation registered with the Australian Electoral Commission as a significant third party. It is not a political party or think tank.
Record checked 27 August 2026
Advance says it is independent and has no formal affiliation with any party. That claim should be recorded alongside—not substituted for—the documented donors, personnel, advisers, campaign contractors and political relationships below.
2018Advance established; ABN 55 628 503 702
$10.4mAdvance’s declared 2023 referendum expenditure
$13.5mReceipts reported for 2024–25
600,000+Supporters claimed by Advance in 2026; not independently audited
What it is
Advance Aus Ltd is recorded in the AEC Transparency Register as a significant third party. Its published material is authorised by executive director Matthew Sheahan at a Canberra address. Advance describes itself as an independent campaign organisation, not a party, and says it has no formal party affiliation.
People around Advance
Matthew Sheahan is executive director. Former prime minister Tony Abbott was confirmed as an advisory-council member in 2023 and was described in 2025 reporting as an Advance board member. Early advisers included Maurice Newman, Sam Kennard and David Adler. Former ACT Liberal politician Vicki Dunne, Simon Fenwick and Newman became directors of the related Advance Generations vehicle.
The documented IPA connection
ABC’s 2023 investigation reported that major Advance donor Simon Fenwick was an IPA director and that the IPA was advising Advance on its campaign against the Indigenous Voice. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price had worked as an Advance spokesperson before entering the Senate. These are direct personnel and campaign links; they do not prove that the IPA controls Advance.
No Atlas partnership established
The available public evidence does not establish Advance as an Atlas Network partner. Its relevance here is adjacency: documented links to people and organisations in the IPA-related ecosystem. Similar ideology, shared speakers or common donors are not sufficient proof of an Atlas relationship or coordinated control.
The disclosed money trail
| Period | Documented amount | What the record shows |
|---|---|---|
| 2018–19 | $2.4 million receipts | Advance’s first-year receipts, used by ABC as the baseline for its later growth. |
| 2022–23 | $5.2 million donations | AEC data reported by Guardian Australia. Almost $2.4 million—47%—could not be attributed to named sources through the disclosure data. Reported large contributions included $1 million from Hadley Holdings and $400,000 from Silver River Investment Holdings. |
| 2023–24 | $15.6 million donations | Advance’s reported pre-election funding pool. The Liberal-linked Cormack Foundation contributed $500,000. |
| 2024–25 | $13.5 million receipts | AEC annual disclosures reported by ABC. Hancock Prospecting disclosed two contributions totalling $895,000; Consolidated Press Holdings, associated with James Packer, gave $150,000. |
Search the AEC Transparency Register ↗ Hancock Prospecting donor return ↗ 2022–23 analysis ↗ 2024–25 reporting ↗
Disclosure warning: “unknown” does not automatically mean unlawful or secret. Under the rules applying to these returns, donations below the disclosure threshold and some amounts outside a reporting window did not identify a donor publicly. The register shows what was disclosed—not necessarily every source of money.
Campaign record
Targeting independents
Advance gained national attention campaigning against Zali Steggall in Warringah in 2019. In 2022 it depicted Steggall and ACT Senate candidate David Pocock as Greens candidates. The AEC ruled the Pocock signs misleading and in breach of electoral law and referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police; Advance disputed the handling but removed the material.
Fair Australia and the No campaign
Advance launched “Fair Australia, powered by Advance” with Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as a campaign spokeswoman. Referendum disclosures recorded $10.4 million of expenditure by Advance and $11.1 million by Australians for Unity/Fair Australia. Fair Australia’s filing said many expenses were double-counted because funds were passed to Advance, so the figures must not simply be added.
Anti-Greens and anti-Albanese targeting
Advance targeted Labor, the Greens and teal independents through television, billboards, field organising and geographically targeted digital advertising. Its own post-election report claimed 52,529 donations worth about $13.8 million, allocating $10.6 million to its anti-Greens campaign and $3.2 million to messaging against Anthony Albanese. Advance claimed success; some Liberal figures and campaign analysts disputed how much effect it had.
Campaigning beyond election day
After the 2025 election Advance campaigned on immigration, net-zero policy, Welcome to Country ceremonies and Australia Day. It also launched Advance Generations to solicit bequests. In 2026 it held its A26 “Evolve” conference and claimed a movement of more than 600,000 supporters. That number is Advance’s own claim and is not an independently audited membership count.
Whitestone Strategic
Guardian Australia reported that Whitestone Strategic provided marketing and design work for Advance’s Voice campaign and that the Advance Generations website was registered under Whitestone. Separate documents showed Coalition parliamentarians’ offices paid Whitestone for communications work. This establishes a shared service provider, not that every client coordinated with every other client.
How to read this file
The legal status, named roles, disclosed payments and identified campaigns above are confirmed. Statements about Advance’s electoral effectiveness are claims by Advance or interpretations by commentators. The evidence establishes political and institutional links, but it does not by itself prove direction by the Liberal Party, the IPA, Atlas Network or any individual donor.