The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has criticised a conservative political group for the second time in every week over its marketing campaign towards unbiased ACT Senate candidate David Pocock.
Key factors:
- David Pocock says he referred a “grubby” telephone message about him from the Advance Australia foyer group to the AEC
- The election watchdog says the message was a robocall that lacked the required authorisation
- Advance Australia says Mr Pocock and the AEC are confused, because the message is its answering machine
The Advance Australia group says the election watchdog has confused its answering-machine message for a “robocall”, and dismissed Mr Pocock’s grievance as him having “a sook”.
The dispute centres on a recorded message from the foyer group, which says Mr Pocock plans to provide the Greens extra energy if he’s elected.
Mr Pocock, a former rugby union star, who’s operating as a climate-focused unbiased, stated the recording was a “grubby” try to mislead voters.
The AEC described the recording as a robocall, saying it breached electoral requirements as a result of, regardless of mentioning “Advance”, it lacked a full authorisation.
“The authorisation for a robocall needs the natural person, the name of the entity and the relevant town or city,” an AEC spokesperson stated.
“This robocall does not meet the authorisation requirements.
Mr Pocock said his volunteers had asked the AEC to investigate whether “the calls” complied with electoral law.
“These are grubby and determined techniques which can be again searching for to scare and mislead voters slightly than encourage them with huge concepts that can profit our group,” he stated.
Advance Australia says Pocock and AEC improper on ‘robocall’ declare
There are differing accounts of how the recording reached the Canberra voter who passed it on to Mr Pocock.
Mr Pocock stated the voter discovered it on their voicemail.
But a spokesman for Advance Australia said the recording was a response to calls to its campaign lines.
“No politician or third celebration within the nation authorises their answering-machine messages,” the spokesman stated.
The spokesman said all of the lobby group’s electoral material was clearly authorised and complied with AEC guidelines.
“To be clear, the voice message was solely heard by individuals who had opted into direct communication as supporters and had been calling us again,” he stated.
Lobbyists’ second run-in with AEC this week
The AEC rebuked Advance Australia earlier this week over a separate matter: signs that depicted both Mr Pocock and independent MP Zali Steggall as Greens party members.
The electoral body said the placards — which were altered to show the pair wearing T-shirts with a Greens logo — breached the Electoral Act because they could deceive voters in a way that affected how they cast their vote.
Mr Pocock said he was disappointed the decision was not made sooner, as about 52,000 Canberrans had already voted before the signs were removed.
He has written to the AEC asking that Advance be prosecuted.
Mr Pocock’s big-spending campaign, backed by progressive lobby group Climate 200, has gained significant support in Canberra.
He is competing for a Senate seat along with both of the ACT’s incumbent senators: Labor’s Katy Gallagher and the Liberals’ Zed Seselja.
The disputed phone message
Advance Australia’s phone recording, which the AEC said breached electoral standards, included the following speech:
“Hi, it is Shelly from Advance. Someone from our group was making an attempt to get in contact with you to ensure you had been conscious of how stable Zed Seselja has been on Australian values within the Senate and what extreme-green unbiased David Pocock actually stands for earlier than you solid your vote.
“There’s no doubt that, if successful, David Pocock will throw his support behind the Greens in the Senate to help give them even more power to push their radical agenda, especially with his background as an extreme green activist.
“He was arrested and detained for chaining himself to a coal digger and stated he will not have youngsters as a result of it is unhealthy for the atmosphere. Sounds like an excessive inexperienced to me.
“I’m sorry we missed you this time but please remember when you head to the polls, anything other than a vote for Zed Seselja and the Liberals in the Senate is a vote for a weak Green government. It’s a risk we just can’t take in these dangerous times.
“I hope to catch you subsequent time. Goodnight.”
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Conservative lobbyists Advance Australia fall foul of election watchdog again over David Pocock voicemail & More Latest News Update
Conservative lobbyists Advance Australia fall foul of election watchdog again over David Pocock voicemail & More Live News
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Conservative lobbyists Advance Australia fall foul of election watchdog again over David Pocock voicemail & More News Today
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