Late 2023 Nannas became aware of the Atlas Network, an international organisation that funds and facilitates the development of neo-liberal right-wing think tanks. The talking points of the Institute for Public Affairs’ (IPA) have been pushed out by far-right politicians and the Murdoch Media for many years. But Atlas is something even more sinister.
Around the world, the far right has been empowered by funding from the fossil fuel industry. Coal, gas and oil emit huge amounts of greenhouse gases, causing the climate to change. The industry has poured $$billions into spreading misinformation about renewables, and funding political parties and candidates who will do their bidding if elected.
The Atlas Network supports think tanks like the IPA on an international scale. They train people of influence – politicians, journalists and academics to spread their message.
We freely admit it all sounds like a conspiracy theory but our initial interest was based on research by Dr Jeremy Walker from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and other international academics.
In July 2025 a Senate Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy was established to inquire into the prevalence and impacts of misinformation and disinformation which relates to climate change and energy. The final report is due Tuesday, 24 March 2026.
“After listening to podcasts and reading about this well-funded international organisation, things happening around the world, which I could never understand, suddenly made sense,” said Nanna Kathy.
We want more people to be aware of Atlas Network and the think-tanks they support in Australia. We suggest you read the following.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF ATLAS NETWORK
The Atlas Network, established in 1981, is the facilitating organisation of many neo-liberal think tanks around the world, including Australia. Its origins go back to the Mont Pelerin Society, created in 1947, with an ideology of small government and minimal regulation of business.
These organisations promote themselves as supporters of liberal ideas and opponents of unnamed anti-democratic forces. It’s important to look further, and so far Nannas have found:
Fossil Fuel Funds
International fossil fuel companies make tax-deductible donations to neo-liberal think tanks around the world. The fossil fuel industry funds advertisements in mainstream and regional media, and sponsors major and regional sporting events.
Murdoch Media
The influence of Atlas affiliated organisations is evident in the Murdoch Media both mainstream and regional.
It criticises renewable energy and supports extending the role of fossil fuels with articles on
Stronger protest laws
Undermining indigenous rights
Denying climate change
Campaigning against renewable energy projects, especially wind
Keeping the myth of carbon capture and storage alive
This is not surprising considering that “When it was founded in 1923, News Limited concealed its mining company connections at the same time it promised the public that its news would be “independent” and “impartial”.
“It was a company that was secretly established by a mining company owned by the most powerful industrialists of the day, and it was created for the express purpose of disseminating “propaganda”. Quotes Prof Sally Young, of Melbourne University and author of Paper Emperors: The Rise of Australia’s Newspaper Empires
Australian Partners
In 2020, the Atlas Network claimed to have the following Australian partners on a webpage that has since been taken down –
Australian Institute for Progress
Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance
Centre for Independent Studies
Institute of Public Affairs
LibertyWorks – organisers of the Conservative Political Action Conferences
Mannkal Economic Education Foundation
Second-tier Atlas spinoff “grassroots” organisations, campaign units, astroturfed entities, conference / networking platforms, funding foundations, new Atlas member thinktanks (post 2021) are listed here.
Members of Atlas affiliated organisations are on many boards of Australian companies and public institutions.
Atlas Campaigns
Some successful Atlas Network campaigns around the world, according to DeSmog, have been:
– UK Brexit
– USA Donald Trump
– Argentina Javier Milei
– Australia The Voice
Having defeated the Voice referendum, Advance immediately focussed its efforts on building out the Australian Atlas Network’s four interlocking disinformation campaigns against climate policy and renewable energy: the ‘offshore wind kills whales’ campaign imported from US Atlas thinktanks, the ‘reckless renewables’ campaign, the ‘we need nuclear’ campaign and the ‘dump net zero’ campaign. Jeremy Walker page 54
MEDIA
25 January 2026 – How the Atlas Network is shaping your life, even if you’ve never heard of it. This article has quick links to a wide variety of topics: the origins of neoliberalism, the Mont Pelerin Society, the Atlas Network, the Overton window, neoliberalism in Australia and more. By the end, readers might see the world with fresh eyes. (ABC News)
24 April 2025 – How Atlas Network amassed a global network of free market think tanks and reached into Australia and New Zealand – To a voter’s naked eye, the impact of think tanks and so-called research centres on public policy and any public vote might be imperceptible. (ABC News)
5 February 2025 – Senator David Shoebridge Adjournment Speech to Parliament – Advance and Atlas Network
Updated June 2024 – How Think Tanks Laid the Groundwork to Criminalize Protest – It’s no coincidence that the backlash against climate protest looks the same from country to country. Not only is industry sharing tactics across borders, but also a global network of more than 500 think tanks have been swapping strategies and rhetoric for decades. (Drilled)
December 2023 – Atlas Network of think tanks pushing climate skepticism, experts say – We encourage you to watch this two hour webinar. It hits the spot on the international nature of Atlas. “I was a bit daunted by the idea of a two-hour webinar but it was worth every minute”, said Nanna Marie.
The webinar is with US academics Nancy MacLean from Duke University and J. Timmons Roberts from Brown University, University of Technology Sydney professor Jeremy Walker and Brendan DeMelle, executive director of DeSmog. Discussion chaired by former Greens Senator and author Scott Ludlam. Event organised by UTS professor James Goodman, and supported by Central News.
October 2023 – What is the Atlas Network? – 23 minute ABC interview with Dr Jeremy Walker from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) who has researched neoliberal think tanks around the world and their impact on climate action and the Voice Referendum.
OTHER SOURCES
How fossil capital built the global disinformation machinery of the Atlas Network to defeat climate policy and disable democracy. Submission No. 243 by Dr Jeremy Walker to the Australian Senate Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy 2025
DeSmog searchable databases.
Climate files is an archival database of hard to find news, information and documents all in one place.