Alana Johnson was a founding member and past president of Voices for Indi which initially selected Cathy McGowan to represent them at the 2013 election.

Ms McGowan rolled the Liberal incumbent, Sophie Mirabella, in 2013 and retained the seat in 2016.

Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg has called on the Australian Electoral Commission to investigate 40 "Voices of" groups set up largely in Coalition held seats.

"In a democracy like Australia it is critical that people can find out out who is behind candidates for public office and where their funding is sourced," Senator Bragg said.

IN OTHER NEWS:

But Ms Johnson cited no real time disclosures of donations, no cap on funding for elections and, in her view, a lack of transparency on the so-called sports and car parks rorts issues as areas the Coalition could better spend their energies.

"It is quite surprising really that the Liberal Party might be questioning these 'Voices Of ' groups when they should be looking in their own backyards first," she said.

Ms Johnson said there was a clear separation between Voices for Indi and Ms McGowan and her successor Helen Haines at election time.

"Never at any time has Voices For Indi conducted anything to do with any of three election campaigns," she said.

"The candidates have had to fund their own election campaigns, Voices For Indi has hardly any funds at all.

"We literally have hundreds of dollars in the account and that is it."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: