Federal election 2025: Dutton claims defunct GetUp! behind Teal push, warns of ‘con job’ ahead of May 3 poll

Peter Dutton has warned left-wing pressure group GetUp! is meddling behind the Teals in a covert campaign ahead of the 2025 Federal Election.

After a wave of upsets in blue-ribbon seats by Teals and minority parties at the 2022 election — both Liberal and Labor have been desperately making cases against a hung parliament at the May 3 poll.

The Opposition leader on Monday said independents and the Greens should not be taken at face value, branding them “deceptive” rather than being a self-titled voice of transparency.

“The GetUp! campaign which is now defunct has gone into the Teal campaign,” he said.

“And the Teal campaign in my seat (of Dickson)… is actually a Green trying to pretend to people that she’s not.”

GetUp!, once a prominent left-wing force throughout the 2010s, was known for orchestrating grassroots campaigns targeting conservative members of parliament.

However, its influence waned after its high-profile failures at the 2019 election.

Mr Dutton made the accusation while visiting the Greens-held Brisbane seat of Ryan which has historically been a Liberal stronghold until the seat flipped at the 2022 election to Elizabeth Watson-Brown.

It marked his second visit to a Greens-held seat in recent days, following an appearance in Adam Bandt’s seat of Melbourne on Thursday, where he announced mental health funding.

After his Ryan press conference on Monday morning, Mr Dutton then travelled to a third Greens seat — Griffith, which is currently held by Max Chandler-Mather, announcing a $19.5 million funding commitment to Food Bank Queensland.

Mr Dutton’s remarks come as high-profile Teal independents face scrutiny over their use of influencer marketing.

Wentworth Teal MP Allegra Spender recently admitted she had paid an agency to work with social media influencers to promote her cause.

Fellow Teal MP Monique Ryan struggled to articulate a clear position on the issue during an interview on ABC’s Insiders when asked whether it’s important for the public to know if content praising a politician is paid.

Fumbling through her response multiple times, she struggled to provide a clear stance and repeatedly said she “doesn’t really have an opinion” or needs to “give it some thought.”

Mr Dutton slammed the Climate 200-backed movement as a “con job” in a stinging attack at a Perth press conference on Saturday.

“I just think when it comes to the whole Teal movement, the whole thing’s a con job. And that’s why people are now seeing through the Teals, they’re Greens in disguise,” he said on Saturday.

“And if you vote for a Teal, you’re voting for a Green, which means you’re voting for Anthony Albanese. The Teals will only support Anthony Albanese in government.”

Mr Dutton also warned a Labor minority government backed by the Greens leader Adam Bandt and the Teals would be a “disaster” for the economy.