Liberal Rachel Swift channels Labor’s Malinauskas in Boothby election ad

The Coalition’s candidate for the state’s hottest election battleground is one of two Liberals so far with ads that may seem familiar to SA voters. Watch the videos.

Liberal candidates have replicated Premier Peter Malinauskas’s popular campaign advertisement that helped him win the South Australian election in March.

Liberal candidate Rachel Swift, fighting for the marginal seat of Boothby in Adelaide’s south, released a video on social media this week that looks very similar to Mr Malinauskas’s “for the future” video.

Mr Malinauskas told The Advertiser on Thursday that he’d “prefer the Liberals back some of our policies for the future, rather than copy our ads”.

Labor’s TV campaign advertisement that won over South Australians and had more than 40,000 views on Facebook introduced Mr Malinauskas as a regular dad.

“I’m a husband, a father of three, a weekend gardener, a pretty average footy player, and leader of the South Australian Labor Party,” he said.

The video humanised the Premier as an everyday bloke during the state election.

A screenshot from Dr Rachel Swift election campaign video

A screen shot from Peter Malinauskas’ election campaign video screenshots.

It included Polaroid-style images of his parents and siblings, wife and children, university graduation, playing football and advocating for the community

Ms Swift’s seemingly comparable campaign advertisement follows the same structure, only telling her life story.

“Hi, I’m Rachel. I’m a health expert, a small-business owner, a local, a volunteer in our community. I’m also the Liberal candidate for Boothby,” she said.

The video includes images of her family, her graduation, her health career and involvement with the community in the same Polaroid photos style that Mr Malinauskas used.

Ms Swift deflected questions about the video.

“I’m using all possible means to communicate with Boothby voters, just as I will advocate strongly for them if elected,” she said.

Victorian Liberal MP Michael Sukkar also joined the bandwagon, posting a video on social media on Wednesday that appeared to copy Mr Malinauskas’s template almost entirely.

“I’m a husband, a father of two boys, an amateur cook, sporting enthusiasts and Federal member for Deakin,” he says in the campaign advertisement.

Almost word for word, the Liberal candidate replicated the same look and feel from Labor’s victorious campaign.

Mr Sukkar’s video – on his Facebook page – is lagging behind Mr Malinauskas’s blockbuster with just 2700 views. The Advertiser contacted Mr Sukkar for comment but he had not responded by deadline.

Originally published as Liberal Rachel Swift channels Labor’s Malinauskas in Boothby election ad