A political activist accused of coordinating the stunt which disrupted Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club speech has boasted his left-wing campaign group is enjoying record donations and social media attention.

Shortly after the June 17 incident GetUp! claimed responsibility for the protest, while the National Press Club accused the group’s director of campaigns and media, David Sharaz, of filming it from inside the room.

ACT Policing is continuing to investigate how the activist organisation managed to smuggle a “drop-down” banner criticising Senator Hanson’s voting record on wages into the NPC and then lower it behind her as she spoke to a nationally televised audience.

After last month’s incident The Nightly revealed that the NPC had rejected a membership application submitted by Mr Sharaz and handed its own security vision of his alleged involvement to ACT Policing.

On Monday the GetUp! director boasted online that during June the campaign group had secured over $1m in donations which he declared was “our highest fundraising month since 2022, which was an election year”.

“Late last year when I told people I was joining GetUp, more than a few raised an eyebrow,” Sharaz wrote on professional networking site LinkedIn.

“‘Aren’t they a bit… done?’ was the overall tone. Hardly, and what an amazing team of people I get to call colleagues,” he added.

“Over $1 million donated, 1500 new monthly donors, the strongest growth in more than a decade, 10 million+ views across social (media), One Nation’s record on wages on full display for Australians to see”.

The banner which was lowered behind Senator Hanson declared: “I opposed a pay rise for workers while I took a $100,000 pay rise for myself,” alongside an image of the One Nation leader wearing eight-bit sunglasses – popularised in online “thug life” memes.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last month joined a chorus of MPs to criticise the protest saying: “these actions can be counterproductive, and one of the things that I’ve said consistently, consistently, is that we need to turn the temperature down.”

Last month The Australian newspaper also reported on an almost “$2m decline in donations” at GetUp! which had “triggered a staff exodus and left the organ­isation bleeding cash.”

It citied GetUp’s latest filing with the corporate regulator, showing it had received $4.1m in donations in 2024-25, down from almost $6m the previous year and sharply lower than the $12.4m it netted in the lead-up to the 2019 federal election.

In a subsequent interview with Nine newspapers, GetUp! acting chief executive Paul Ferris has defended his group’s controversial actions insisting the stunt had method and strategy.

“Our research is pretty clear that, in particular, on Pauline Hanson’s record on workers’ rights and industrial relations, when some of her newest and softest supporters see that record, they really don’t like what they see,” Ferris was quoted as saying.

“If you sort of look past the noise of the coverage and the noise of the discussion about GetUp specifically, there is a powerful message there, which did reach millions of people who are not going in and closely examining the parliamentary voting record of politicians and parties.”

The NPC last month confirmed it had referred GetUp!’s protest to Federal Police for investigation and in a statement claimed: “David Sharaz was seen filming the incident on his phone and, after the banner had lowered, left abruptly.”

An ACT Policing spokesperson has declined to say whether Mr Sharaz - husband of former political staffer Brittany Higgins - or any other GetUp! members have yet been interviewed as part of the investigation, telling The Nightly there is “no update to provide to our previous statement”.

The Nightly has also approached GetUp! acting chief executive Paul Ferris for comment.