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Scare campaigns: Victoria’s major parties trade blows over AI-generated videos of leaders in election ads

It’s the night of Halloween and Jess Wilson has appeared on social media feeds with a warning about a scary prospect: “Americanised healthcare” under a future Liberal government. “If you had a heart attack, you would have to pay $150,000 for care,” the Victorian Liberal leader says, mid-trick or treat. There’s just one problem: Wilson never said this. The election campaign video, posted to Victorian Labor’s social media accounts on Saturday, is an AI-generated depiction of Wilson, complete with a voice that soun…

By the Truvace desk3 min read1 sourceEvidence: Emerging · 42/100 — News report · 1 independent sourceJournalismTRV-2026-2370· cite & verify
Scare campaigns: Victoria’s major parties trade blows over AI-generated videos of leaders in election ads

In brief

Ahead of the Victorian election this month, Victorian Labor posted an AI-generated video of Liberal leader Jess Wilson, voiced to sound like her, warning that a Liberal government would bring "Americanised healthcare" with $150,000 heart attack bills. Wilson never said this and called it a "desperate smear campaign".

The Liberals are also using AI, with videos of premier Ben Carroll asleep at his desk. Advance Australia released an AI video fabricating a Labor election-night victory, and a One Nation launch video used inflammatory tropes about ethnic groups. Of these, only the Advance video carried an AI disclaimer.

Transparency International Australia and the Greens want the practice banned or regulated, pointing to South Australian law with penalties of up to $5,000. A University of Sydney researcher says misinformation predates AI but fake video makes weak arguments more convincing, and that cleanup after the fact is a losing proposition.

Main points

  1. Labor's AI video showed a fake Jess Wilson holding a bill listing $150,000 for a heart attack, $6,000 for an ambulance and $40,000 to have a baby.
  2. The video draws on Wilson's comments after she announced a $1.27bn plan to pay private hospitals to conduct public elective surgeries; she said "Not at all" when asked if it was bad to Americanise healthcare.
  3. Premier Ben Carroll defended the video's content, while Wilson called it a "desperate smear campaign".
  4. The Liberals posted AI videos of Carroll asleep at his desk, following a Herald Sun story citing unnamed sources about naps.
  5. Advance Australia's AI video fabricated a Labor election-night win, and it was the only one with an AI disclaimer.
  6. South Australian law bans AI deepfake electoral ads depicting acts a person did not perform without permission, with penalties up to $5,000; the ACT also has truth in political advertising laws.
  7. The Greens' Ellen Sandell urged parties to sign a memorandum of understanding rejecting "deceptive AI content".

The problem

Labor, the Liberals and lobby groups have run AI-generated videos depicting leaders saying or doing things they did not, and only one carried an AI disclaimer, which experts say further erodes voter trust.

The rundown

The Labor video was posted to its social media accounts on Saturday, Halloween night, and showed Wilson alongside One Nation's Victorian leader Warren Pickering wearing a Liberal badge. Its claims derive from a press conference last month, where Wilson said the Labor government had previously implemented similar arrangements and that it was happening in Queensland.

The Liberal campaign called the Labor video "garbage" yet is itself using AI on social media. A Labor campaign source said the Liberals "threw the first brick" with the Carroll video. Conservative lobby group Advance Australia and One Nation also produced AI-driven or AI-style content.

Transparency International Australia chief executive Clancy Moore said trust is already at all-time lows and called for truth in political advertising laws in Victoria and federally, and for at least an AI watermark. Koskie suggested even small fines can work, citing X's $650,000 fine over a child safety notice.

Under South Australia's rules, a person can consent to their image being used in a deepfake ad, but such ads and any others using AI must be labelled. The Greens will call on whoever forms government to adopt SA-style laws.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Guardian2026-11-04

The debate