‘We have destroyed the Greens’: third-party groups spent millions on ads to influence Australian voters. Some claim it worked

Voters cast their ballots on election day in the seat of Bradfield, an electorate in Sydney targeted by a number of third-party groups. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/EPA

TV advertising continues to rack up large bills for political parties during federal election campaigns but third-party interest groups are increasingly using social media to deliver targeted messages to voters.

With multiple seats determined by very fine margins, targeted messaging can sway just enough to influence a third-party group’s preferred outcome.