Ahead of the local gov council elections this weekend pamphlets have appeared in Sydney warning people not to vote Labor because gay marriage. The highly offensive and lying material has been referred to the Australian Electoral Commission over breach of electoral rules.
The flyers do not contain any indication of who distributed them.BTW, those electoral rules don't apply in the postal survey as the gov is using the Australian Bureau of Statistics to run the survey instead of the Australian Electoral Commission.
The general secretary of NSW Labor, Kaila Murnain, told Fairfax Media: "We have had reports of this false and highly offensive flyer being circulated in parts of western and south western Sydney. As local government elections are underway in NSW, and the flyer is unauthorised, we have made a complaint today to the NSW Electoral Commission".
She said complaints had also been made about alleged incidents in Strathfield, "where it has been reported that Liberal volunteers are saying similarly offensive falsehoods as people cast their vote at pre-poll booths".
A spokesman for the NSW Liberal Party said the organisation "does not condone the offensive content of these unauthorised flyers. The party repudiates any suggestions that it had authorised the production or distribution of this material".
"We note that this matter has been referred to the NSW Electoral Commission, and support it being fully investigated."
It is an offence under the NSW Electorates and Elections Act to print, publish or distribute electoral material, such as how-to-vote cards, pamphlets, handbills and posters, that do not show the name and address of the person authorising the advertisement, and the name and place of business of the printer. It is also an offence to publish misleading material. Sydney Morning Herald
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