Lobby group GetUp! has pulled an advertisement depicting former prime minister Tony Abbott as an apathetic surf lifesaver who refuses to help a drowning swimmer.

Key points: The ad was part of GetUp!'s campaign against the re-election of Tony Abbott in the seat of Warringah

The ad was part of GetUp!'s campaign against the re-election of Tony Abbott in the seat of Warringah Royal Surf Life Saving Australia said the ad was insensitive, particularly after multiple drownings on the weekend

Royal Surf Life Saving Australia said the ad was insensitive, particularly after multiple drownings on the weekend The ad was slated to run in cinemas across Australia next week

The satirical ad mocking Mr Abbott's stance on climate change was widely criticised, even by the Royal Life Saving Society.

The timing of the video was considered particularly insensitive by some as its release followed seven drownings across the country, including two surf lifesavers, over the Easter long weekend.

After the ad's release, the member for Warringah said the country's lifesavers deserved an apology from GetUp! for mocking their work.

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In the ad, an impersonator of Mr Abbott is seen sitting on a beach wearing the surf life saving uniform while munching on an onion.

A swimmer strikes trouble in the water and a woman runs over to the Abbott impersonator and urges him to help the drowning man.

"Look, I think you'll find the science isn't settled on that," the Abbott impersonator says.

"Why should we act first?"

In 2017, Mr Abbott claimed climate change is not real and the "so-called settled" science is "absolute crap".

'Nothing funny about drowning'

Labor leader Bill Shorten distanced his party from the lobby group and called the ad "grossly disrespectful" and "stupid".

"In terms of GetUp!, they're independent from us," he said.

"Some of the stuff they say I haven’t agreed with, some of the stuff they’ve said in the past, I have, but this ad is well out of line."

The chief executive of Royal Life Saving Australia said the ad's release was very poorly timed.

"Yeah, nah. GetUp terrible week for drowning or lifesaving references. Poor taste. Nothing funny about drowning," Justin Scarr tweeted.

GetUp! said they understood the criticism and would replace the ad with a "more literal" ad featuring the footage of Mr Abbott laughing along with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton about "water lapping at [the] door" of Pacific islands due to rising sea levels.

"We have the greatest respect for Australia's lifesavers and apologise for the insensitivity of the timing and subject matter of our planned ad," GetUp! said.

"The intention of our campaign is to focus on Tony Abbott's callous inaction on climate change, at a time when the World Health Organisation warns the annual death toll from climate change will reach 250,000 a year.

"We believe our new approach will better accomplish that goal."

Gerard Benedet from Advance Australia, which has campaigned against GetUp!, did not believe the two activist groups were hindering the candidates they were trying to support.

"I think the contest of ideas is a good thing for politics," he said.

"I think more voices are better than less voices.

"What I do think is this election should be clean and I think this ad is in very poor taste."

Satirical superhero Captain GetUp, created by Advance Australia, also attracted controversy over a video. ( Twitter: Captain GetUp! )

Advance Australia suffered its own backlash last week when it posted a video of its parody character "Captain Getup" gyrating against a billboard of Zali Steggall, who is running against Mr Abbott in Warringah.