State election 2019: Letter drop draws allegations of 'unethical practices' from Labor and Liberal supporter camps
Campaign tactics draw ire
One of the letters distributed in Port Stephens in support of Labor MP Kate Washington.
One of the letters distributed in Port Stephens in support of Labor MP Kate Washington.
Tactics used in the Port Stephens state election campaign have drawn allegations of 'unethical practices' from the supporters of both the Labor and Liberal camps.
Both candidates have been accused by members of the public of using mail out material in a questionable manner. The candidates, Kate Washington and Jaimie Abbott, have denied any wrongdoing and their practices are understood to be legal.
With just four weeks before voters go to the polls, the stakes have been ramped up a notch by both parties following Premier Gladys Berejiklian's comment to the Examiner last week that the seat of Port Stephens could determine which party would form government.
In response to accusations by a Corlette resident that members of the Labor party were handing out "unauthorised letters" last weekend, Port Stephens MP Kate Washington insisted that "all of my election material is fully authorised. Any suggestion otherwise is incorrect".
The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said that no politician should be above the law, referring to the letters' content, which was complimentary of Ms Washington's achievements and included positive news articles published in local media. The letters are authorised by the authors who wrote them.
"I’m grateful that local residents are happy to endorse me and my local priorities," Ms Washington said.
“It appears we’ve hit that unfortunate period in the campaign cycle where there are attempts to smear my reputation for political gain."
In much the same way, Ms Abbott has also been forced to defend her use of postal vote information mailed out to Port Stephens residents, addressed with the words: 'Important voting information for the state election'.
In a letter to the Examiner, Nelson Bay's Ron McLachlan questioned the contents of a pamphlet mailed out from the Liberal Party’s candidate and a free post envelope addressed to ‘Postal Vote Centre', Level 25, 201 Kent Street, NSW 2000 GPO Box 223, Sydney South, NSW’.
"Many people might assume that the ‘Postal Vote Centre’ is a part of the NSW Electoral Commission’s service, but it isn’t," he added.
Ms Abbott said the postal vote applications had the approval from the NSW Electoral Commission.
"Our pack allows voters to register for a postal vote without the hassle of printing forms and paying for postage. The returned application for a postal vote is provided to the NSW Electoral Commission. All of the materials are clearly labelled as coming from the NSW Liberal Party," she said.
"We are not involved in sending out the postal voting ballots, nor do we find out who actually ends up casting a postal vote."
RELATED READING