Liberal candidate Shaun Osborn advertises meeting at cafe, forgets to ask cafe owner about it

A Liberal candidate invited thousands of voters to a cafe — but forgot to ask the cafe owner first. Now all his rivals are coming too.

A Broadview cafe owner was shocked to discover, via thousands of flyers dropped around the neighbourhood, that the local Liberal candidate was planning to have a meeting at his premises.

Pane E Latte owner Matteo Giordano found out that Shaun Osborn had invited voters to speak with him at the Regency Rd business on Thursday when a regular customer showed Mr Giordano the flyer.

“I was just surprised because no one had consulted with me,” Mr Giordano said.

“I have never seen him (Mr Osborn) before. This morning when Shaun Osborn called me, he apologised.”

Matteo Giordano, the owner of the Pane e Latte cafe at Broadview. Picture: Tom Huntley

Liberal candidate Shaun Osborn

Mr Giordano is a permanent resident but says he doesn’t have Australian voting rights.

Worried that his regular customers will think he’s endorsing the Liberal Party, Mr Giordano has now invited all the federal candidates for the seat of Adelaide.

“We are not endorsing anyone, everyone is welcome at Pane E Latte,” Mr Giordano said.

Mr Osborn said he had been letterboxing areas to let them know about him, and where he’ll be in the preceding week.

He said rather than just hold meetings at a street corner or a park, he added a coffee stop.

“Regretfully, in relation to Thursday, the advice wasn’t confirmed before the calendar went to print and it got letterboxed,” Mr Osborn said.

The flyer was sent to around 7000 homes, and only brought to Mr Osborn’s attention by the cafe owner on Monday.

“(We) apologised, and made it clear that we certainly didn’t want to politicise his business,” he said.

“Administratively, we missed this one and we endeavour for that not to happen again.

“It was somewhere I would be and people could come in and say hello to me over a coffee.”

Mr Osborn said the invitation to all candidates for the seat of Adelaide to come to the cafe was a “good gesture” from the business.

“I do intend to go,” he said.

Labor candidate for Adelaide, Steve Georganas, said not informing the owners Mr Osborn would be holding a meeting on their premises was “poor form”.

He will also attend the event after being invited by Mr Giordano.