Labor election campaigner Dee Madigan hired by SA ambulance union ahead of state poll

The ambulance union has hired a Labor election veteran who worked on the ‘Mediscare’ campaign for the state poll.

An advertising executive and TV identity who worked on “a union Mediscare campaign" has been hired by the Ambulance Employees’ Association ahead of the state election.

Dee Madigan, a stalwart of more than 20 election campaigns across the country, has been hired by the association to run its campaign in the March election.

Advertising executive and TV identity Dee Madigan.

Leaked documents, obtained by The Advertiser, outline her team will produce “two video commercials, social media content, a campaign website, a petition” as well as a spam email system.

The documents made no mention of Ms Madigan’s ALP credentials, which include working as a campaign manager in at least five state and territory elections.

Treasurer Rob Lucas accused the union of siding with Labor and said the material being planned “perpetuated the falsehoods which have been part of their campaign so far”.

“They are saying we have cut $11m from the ambulance service budget and you can see from the proposed TV script a repeat of that and it is not true,” Mr Lucas said.

“There has been a $28m increase and there are 258 extra ambulance staff this year compared to the last year of the Labor government.”

Mr Lucas said ambulance funding came from state coffers and fee for service, and those campaigning for more ambulance funding were only considering the taxpayer component of funding.

Ms Madigan was behind a 2014 Community and Public Sector Union campaign that caused controversy by accusing then prime minister Tony Abbott of a plan for the "backdoor privatisation of Medicare".

That preceded another "Mediscare" campaign that the Labor Party ran during the 2016 federal election build-up.

The Advertiser attempted to contact Ms Madigan through her progressive campaign advertising company Campaign Edge, where she is the creative director. She is also a panellist on Gruen and The Drum on ABC, and commentator on Sky News.

An ambulance officer chalking a protest message on a vehicle. Picture supplied by state government.

Ambulance Employees’ Association of SA secretary Phil Palmer said the union had also campaigned against the former Labor Party when it was in government prior to 2018.

“The dispute is about safe staffing in SA Ambulance,” he said.

“It is multifaceted including industrial tribunal proceedings, ongoing social and news media campaigning, and getting signatures on a petition. We have over 35,000 signatures already.

“The AEA has been active on all those fronts for years; including when Labor was in.

“This government is still ignoring ambos, and their patients’ plight, so the union is left with no choice but to up the ante.

“We are campaigning for the safety of our fellow South Australians.”

The AEA has a budget of $250,000 for the election campaign, on top of its current industrial campaign.