Vicki Dunne joins Advance Australia, the lobby group behind Xi Jinping election advertising

The former Liberal MLA for Ginninderra joined hard right group Advance Australia as one of its directors shortly after ending her 19-year stint as a member in ACT's Legislative Assembly.

The group, which has been previously described as a conservative version of activist group Get Up, has raised eyebrows within Canberra, after a truck depicting Chinese President Xi Jinping casting a vote for the Labor Party was spotted earlier this month.

Ms Dunne, who served as an assembly speaker for four years, retired from politics after the 2020 ACT election, adding she would continue to be a "sounding board" for the party she represented.

But the Canberra Liberals have confirmed the conservative long-time Liberal stalwart is no longer a member of the ACT branch.

Ms Dunne was appointed a director for Advance Australia on February 18, 2021 but it's understood she ceased ties with the local Liberal branch nine days earlier.

The former speaker was one of three local Liberal heavyweights to deliver a review into the Canberra Liberals' campaign for the 2020 ACT election, working alongside former John Howard staffer Graeme Morris and former Canberra Liberals campaign manager Daniel Clode.

The panel delivered its final review to the Canberra branch in March 2021 but it's understood Ms Dunne's involvement was limited to the main work of the review, which was mostly completed in January 2021.

When Ms Dunne first announced her plans to retire in 2019, she said she would assist the party when asked of her.

"I'm not going to go there and say I'm an elder statesman you have to listen to me, but I will be a sounding board," she said in 2019 when announcing her retirement.

"I will be as available as the party wants me to be."

The Canberra Times approached Ms Dunne for a response regarding whether she personally supported the controversial ad and to discuss her present relationship with the Canberra Liberals. She did not respond to requests.

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general Mike Burgess has previously cautioned against politicians and political groups using national security issues for election point-scoring.

Advance Australia, which was formed in 2018, has previously been accused of being closely entwined with the Liberal Party.

Its former national director Gerard Benedet had worked for a number of Coalition offices, including for Tony Abbott, while Elizabeth Storer, a former staffer for ACT Liberal senator Zed Seselja, served as a director until mid-2020.

But despite previous ties to members of the Coalition, Advance Australia managing director Matthew Sheahan told The Canberra Times it has no affiliation with any federal senators or MPs, adding the group had campaigned for and against policy decisions made by both the Coalition and Labor.

The Australian Electoral Commission has also categorised the activist group as a significant third party.

A spokesperson for the electoral body said the group's "issues-based activities" had not been substantial enough to warrant a review into whether it was independent of any political party.

The commission spokesperson said it issued a warning to the group regarding a political ad featuring President Jinping, after concern it could lead to informal votes being cast.

Mr Sheahan said it was working on editing the ad so it would be compliant with electoral communication laws.

"This ad is clearly a parody style advertisement, but the last thing we want is to suggest that China is casting an informal vote for Labor as opposed to a formal vote, nor giving any Australian voter that impression," he said in a statement.

"We are in the process of reworking the material to replace the tick on the ballot paper with a number one, and [to] make sure that China's vote for Labor is a formal one."

The group was formed to advance "western" and "Judeo-Christian" values and to give a voice to Australians who "feel powerless or intimidated".

During the 2020-21 financial year, it received $2.7 million in donations and had spent more than a million on campaigns.

The group claims to have amassed more than 150,000 supporters in the 12 months to June 2021.

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