Anthony Albanese calls for PM to intervene in Lilley candidate’s rental fiasco

It has been revealed that the LNP’s Lilley candidate Vivian Lobo and his wife were not the only people enrolled at a dilapidated Everton Park home.

An enrolment scandal engulfing the LNP’s candidate in an ultra-marginal Queensland seat is a “really serious” issue that warrants Prime Ministerial intervention, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has said.

It comes as The Courier-Mail can confirm the LNP’s Lilley candidate Vivian Lobo and his wife were not the only people enrolled at a dilapidated Everton Park home despite not living there — with his in-laws also registered under the address.

Penalties for the provision of false declarations to the Australian Electoral Commission can include imprisonment of up to 12 months or a $12,600 fine.

Vivian Lobo leaves his home in Windsor. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

Mr Lobo maintained he enrolled in the electorate of Lilley as he had “signed a lease in Everton Park with the intention to move in straight away”.

But his “campaign commitments” and “difficulty with getting tradespeople to the home” delayed the move.

The Australian Federal Police confirmed it had received the AEC’s referral of concerns around whether Mr Lobo had provided false information regarding where he lived.

But the AFP would not say if it was looking into the declarations of Mr Lobo’s wife and her parents, saying it “does not comment on matters subject to investigation”.

Lilley is held by Labor by just 1229 votes — or a margin of 0.6 per cent.

The other home of Vivian Lobo, the LNP’s candidate for Lilley. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Mr Lobo was nowhere to be seen at the main prepoll booth of the electorate on day one of early voting on Monday, with posters featuring his face also in short supply to counter-attack Labor’s negative campaign against him in light of the police investigation.

A visit to the Everton Park address yielded only a man who claimed to be a part-owner of the property but declined to comment further or how he was linked to Mr Lobo.

Mr Lobo and the LNP have repeatedly ignored questions about why it was his responsibility as the renter to make the property liveable while also failing to clarify when he signed the lease.

A property in Everton Park that is listed as Vivian Lobo’s residence. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

Mr Albanese, at a press conference in Adelaide, said the issue was “really serious”.

“The Prime Minister needs to respond as to what action he will take on this issue,” he said.

Incumbent Lilley MP Anika Wells said Mr Lobo should be disendorsed by the LNP.

She said the LNP government were “completely absorbed by their own by their own internal fighting to the point where they’ve got these kind of candidates running around not taking our community seriously.”