The election campaign threat that has parties worried
A review of Labour’s landslide federal election victory has found more work is needed to counter AI-generated disinformation.
While the review praised the campaign that gave Anthony Albanese 94 seats in the House of Representatives and badly damaged the Liberals and Greens, it shows there are many areas Labor needs to work on before the next election.
The four-person review panel found that artificial intelligence was used by Labor opponents to spread disinformation during the 2025 campaign.
This included untagged AI-generated videos and images for posters and online content.
“International evidence shows that AI is fundamentally reducing the cost and increasing the scale of disinformation operations,” said the review, presented by Labor Party national chairman Wayne Swan on Friday.
“People are increasingly unable to distinguish real information from manufactured information.”
The review found a shift away from obvious viral AI content, with campaigners now creating thousands of different versions of the same message that are harder to detect.
He warned that the Electoral Commission has only limited authority to take action against computer-generated disinformation.
Overall, the review found that although Labor ran a successful and targeted campaign, the opposition’s actions helped return the government to power.
“Post-election surveys showed voters felt the coalition was out of touch, ran a poor campaign and did not offer meaningful solutions to Australia’s core problems,” the document said.
The review found that voters were particularly concerned about the cost and long lead times of the coalition’s nuclear plan.
They were also unhappy with then-opposition leader Peter Dutton’s promise to give up public servants’ rights to work from home, but this was eventually abandoned.
“Rather than a retrospective referendum, Labor has turned the election into a contest over which party will make Australians better off in three years,” critics said.
“This put an onus on the Liberal Party to detail their plans and provide Australians with a viable alternative, and they failed that test.”
Labor’s review was written by former Victorian Labor secretary Chris Ford, Australian Services Union secretary Emeline Gaske, former WA Labor official Lenda Oshalem and strategic adviser Moksha Watts.
Labor must deliver on its promises over the next two years to lay the foundations for the next election campaign, four commentators have warned.
“Delivery is not optional; it is a cornerstone of Labour’s agenda and will shape our candidacy for a third term,” they said.
They also expressed concern about the possibility of increased three-cornered contests in which government, opposition and independent or third-party candidates all have a reasonable chance of winning seats.
The review warns that Labor must be alert to independent rivals who could take on local issues to run a successful campaign.
“There is no such thing as a safe seat, and campaigns should be calibrated to the possibility of three-cornered contests, regardless of where the 2025 post-election pendulum currently lies,” the report said.
The Liberals have also produced a campaign review, but its publication has reportedly been delayed because Mr Dutton claims parts of it could be defamatory towards him and his former staff.
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