In the final months leading up to the Victorian election, a group known as Fix Victoria has launched a social media advertising campaign featuring striking and provocative AI-generated images. These images depict a man in a balaclava with a machete threatening a petrol station worker, a woman giving birth on the side of the road due to poor road conditions, and a wave of water symbolizing the state's projected debt of $199 billion over the next four years. These ads, costing up to $100,000 in August, are among the most expensive in the campaign and are being used to highlight what the group calls the state's key challenges: crime, corruption, and debt. Another group, Better Victoria, is also running heavy social media ads that contrast Labor's infrastructure projects, such as the Suburban Rail Loop, with traditional investments in roads, schools, and hospitals. Fix Victoria is managed by political professionals with backgrounds in conservative thinktanks. It was registered in August by Deborah Henderson, who previously held a senior role at the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), a well-known conservative thinktank. The group’s communications director, Andrew Hudgson, and its head of advocacy, Gideon Rozner, also worked at the IPA before moving to other roles. While Fix Victoria is a separate entity from the IPA, three of its staff previously worked at the thinktank. Rozner has stated that the group is not politically driven but rather focused on addressing the issues it believes are dragging the state down. Despite Fix Victoria's emphasis on compliance with electoral laws, concerns about transparency remain. Under Victoria’s electoral laws, groups do not need to register as third-party campaigners unless they explicitly support or oppose a political party or candidate. This means the financial backers of Fix Victoria’s ads are not publicly disclosed, even though the group’s messaging clearly aims to influence voter opinion. Transparency International Australia’s chief executive, Clancy Moore, has pointed out that this legal gap allows groups like Fix Victoria to operate without revealing their funding sources or political connections. Fix Victoria and Better Victoria have both spent heavily on social media advertising, with Fix Victoria alone spending nearly $100,000 in August—more than any other political candidate or party. The ads have been strategically placed, including during a major sports broadcast, suggesting a significant financial commitment. While both groups claim compliance with electoral laws and emphasize the privacy of their members, critics argue that the lack of transparency could affect the fairness of the election. The groups’ influence highlights the growing role of independent, issue-focused organizations in shaping public opinion during electoral campaigns.