Former National party staff members routinely liked the Facebook page of Atomic Australia - which is at the centre of the Upper Hunter byelection domain name scandal - even though the party's headquarters denies any knowledge of the organisation.
Atomic Australia, which promotes the use of nuclear energy, was used to register the name of Labor candidate jeffdrayton.com and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate suegilroy.com at the start of the campaign.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro's chief of staff Jeff McCormack is listed as the contact person for the domain name.
The Nationals, after being criticised for running a 'dirty tricks' campaign, agreed to relinquish the domain names last weekend.
In announcing the decision Mr Barilaro did not discuss the process by which the party took possession of the domain names.
The party's Upper Hunter candidate Dave Layzell has denied any knowledge of the matter.
The Australian reported that Mr McCormack had denied any involvement with Atomic Australia. He said a close confidant with an ABN had set up the domain in his name.
Atomic Australia's Facebook page, which has not posted new material since last August, typically heaps praise on the National Party and ridicule and scorn on Labor and the Greens.
In response to questions about the National Party's association with Atomic Australia, a party spokesman said: "The party has no knowledge of this entity."
However, an analysis of likes and engagements on Atomic Australia's Facebook page shows four former National Party staff regularly liked material on the page.
The party did not respond to questions about the former staff members' involvement.
Atomic Australia is not a registered political party, however, it describes itself as "a political party aiming to legalise and promote nuclear power in Australia"
In a complaint to the NSW Electoral Commission Deputy Labor leader Yasmin Catley said the party's activities amounted to a breach of the section 186 of the NSW Electoral Act.
The section states that a person must not publish, distribute or display or electoral material without showing the name and address of the individual who authorised it.
"Section 186 of the act exists to prevent this sort of shadowy campaigning from unidentified sources and to protect the voting public from fake campaigns pushing hidden agendas. It appears that the NSW Nationals have attempted to use the Atomic Australia name to cover for their campaign to bring nuclear power plants to NSW, sending pro-nuclear messages out into the community without attaching them to the Nationals name," Ms Catley wrote.
