Indigenous Voice campaigns ramp up with Facebook, Instagram spends revealed

The big Meta advertising spend targeting voters comes as the number of "yes" volunteers increases to 25,000. Door-knocking activity and traditional media advertising has also increased around the nation. Yes23 now has official campaigns running in each ACT federal electorate as well as neighbouring Eden-Monaro.

It also comes as "no" camp figure, CLP senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price urges campaigners to be "relentless" in their opposition, and as the Prime Minister urges ALP members to "campaign like you've never campaigned before."

The "yes" campaign is banking on face-to-face exchanges winning people over, with support coming from a younger, progressive mindset.

"We'll be doubling down on our efforts to connect with Australians between now and polling day," Dean Parkin, Yes23 director, said in a statement.

"Our volunteers are the heart and soul of this campaign. They are our boots on the ground, engaging with Australians and raising awareness of the importance of a successful "yes" vote."

But Senator Nampijinpa Price has attacked what she calls "woke corporations" funding the "yes" side.

"All these companies have demonstrated is your weak virtue signalling," she told reporters in Perth. "An easy way to tick a box and to ostracise a number of your employees. That's what you have done."

"We've got thousands of people across the country, now volunteering, signing up."

There is no public money for the "yes" and "no" campaigns. The "yes" side is funded by philanthropists, the corporate sector, and individual community donations. Influential Liberal pollster and strategist Mark Textor has put significant resources into the "yes" campaign.

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Yes23 is expecting to add 2000 volunteers every week. Strategists believe this "extensive and coordinated" ground game is the basis of a winning formula. It cites polling showing 40 per cent of people are still undecided or don't know about the referendum.

The official "no" side, which has substantial links to the Canberra Liberals, is backed by wealthy donors such as former fund manager Simon Fenwick and supporter donations. Former prime minister Tony Abbott is a member of Advance's advisory council.

But social media remains a big battleground and the online campaign is in full swing ahead of the likely mid-October referendum vote. This masthead has analysed official paid "yes" and "no" campaign ads through Meta's Ad Library as undecided voters are sought.

The Yes23 campaign alliance - which is listed as a "non-profit organisation" - was the top advertiser over the past week, launching an extraordinary 1212 ads. It has spent $83,450 over the past week and $15,937 in the last recorded day.

Only Greenpeace Australia has spent more ($95,800) on Facebook and Instagram in the past 7 days.

A variety of "no" cases have lifted spending but are still way behind Yes23. Conservative lobby group Advance, the group listed as a "political organisation" that is behind the official "grassroots" 'no' case Fair Australia, has come in as the fourth top advertiser over the past week, spending $12,312 on 15 ads targeting Western Australia and its axed cultural heritage laws. The ads are being seen in WA by men of all ages and older women.

Advance has also spent $4,643 over the past week on six ads targeting the idea that the Voice will lead to axing Australia Day. The ads have had millions of "impressions" and have been seen strongly in Queensland.

Another "no" group Not My Voice has spent $6,501 on 88 ads over the past week on ads insisting that not all Aboriginal people back the Voice proposition.

Advance has also been posting Voice memes on Facebook targeting the Prime Minister and minister Linda Burney with various messages, many using unflattering red graphics and quotes from negative news articles.

Yes23 is now spending, on a weekly basis, more than the Australian Government Department of Education. It is very close ($209,432) to surpassing Greenpeace ($218,353) as the highest spender over the past 30 days. The Save Your Pharmacy campaign by the Pharmacy Guild spent just half the amount of Yes23 over the past month.

The "yes" advertisements feature Aboriginal imagery and videos and say phrases such as "Let's listen" and "The time is now".

The "yes" ads are seen by a variety of age groups in all major states, with the highest population states Victoria, NSW, and Queensland having the most eyes on the ads.

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