Far-left groups have remained a major presence at rallies as well as disrupting lectures and recently hijacking the ABC’s Q&A program.

But the Australian Liberal Students’ Federation had also gained support, it maintained, with inquiries on its website surging since the budget was announced.

The federation’s spokesman Matthew Lesh said many students wanted to cut through the ‘‘propaganda’’ surrounding the budget, including the suggestion that students would be slugged with huge debts.

“Right now the Liberal students on campus are very revved up about responding to all the lies,” he said.

The federation is hoping to recruit more students through online and campus campaigns.

‘‘In recent weeks we have received hundreds of inquires from interested students across the country, our videos have been watched by thousands and we have reached over 60,000 unique people online.”

This article was originally published in The Age, June 13 2014.