UAP hopefuls ‘paying for own signs’
Campaign Confidential: Clive Palmer might have deep pockets, but democracy is not cheap for United Australia Party candidates fighting vandalism on the election trail.
Federal Election
Don't miss out on the headlines from Federal Election. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Got a hot tip for Campaign Confidential? Email election.confidential@news.com.au
Democracy is not cheap
Clive Palmer may have some famously deeply pockets, but United Australia Party candidates are paying for their own branded corflutes – and it gets expensive when they get vandalised, one UAP hopeful has revealed. Benjamin Britton, the United Australia Party’s candidate in Cunningham, has claimed he has spent $2000 of his own money replacing 350 signs, at $6.25 a pop, after they were vandalised with his face often slashed in half, all over the electorate. “We will keep replacing them,” Mr Britton said. “We have an endless supply, we have dedicated volunteers and we won’t be intimidated by anyone. People think it’s all getting funded by Clive Palmer, but it’s coming out of my pocket. We’re given a small amount of [generic UAP] signs, but my corflutes with my face on it are self-funded.” If Mr Britton attracts as many votes as the UAP candidate for Cunningham did in 2019 – a total of 3828 – this will be an expensive democratic experiment indeed.
Keeping it nice (for now)
Division in the ranks! Campaign Confidential’s spies overheard a testy little exchange between a young Liberal staffer and an older party supporter on the election trail in WA on Saturday. Setting up a Scott Morrison campaign stop in a Perth car park, the young staffer was irritated by the presence of trailers bearing “It won’t be easy under Albanese” signs, in clear view of cameras. Wanting to present a more positive campaign message during the press conference, the young staffer demanded they be removed immediately. The older party supporter later sniffed to her friends, “they’re supposedly our future”. Campaign Confidential shares the older Liberal’s mystification: the negative ads attacking Albo have been in pretty high rotation, so why the attempt at hiding them?
Casting off
More than 500 early voting centres open at 8am local time on Monday, but the ballots are already flooding in via post, particularly in Victoria. In the seat of Bruce, held by Labor’s Julian Hill, more than 5000 valid postal ballots have already been received, or about 4 per cent of the total votes expected to be cast. The tallies of postal ballots in the marginal battleground of Chisholm (held by Gladys Liu for the Liberals) and the safe Labor seat of Corio (held by Richard Marles) are also high. Are a higher proportion of Victorians planning to be away on election day – or have they simply decided who they are voting for, and want this maddening election to be over already?
Permission to rock
The use of songs by politicians has grown contentious over the past few years, with artists such as REM and the Rolling Stones sending former US President Donald Trump curt “cease and desist” notices after he played their music at his rallies, and Clive Palmer ordered to pay $1.5 million in damages for the unauthorised use of the Twisted Sister banger We’re Not Gonna Take It in his 2019 election ads. To avoid similar copyright breaches this election, songwriting body APRA delivered how-to guides for political parties wanting to use popular songs at their events. So are they following the rules? After Labor used the classic GANGajang anthem Sounds of Then at their launch a fortnight ago, Campaign Confidential reached out to frontman and songwriter Mark Callaghan, who confirmed the ALP did seek permission to play it at the event, and “we were more than happy to say yes”. We’re yet to hear back from reps for Kylie Minogue (the ALP also played Can’t Get You Out Of My Head) and for AC/DC, after the Libs played Thunderstruck at a rally in Sydney. No doubt the Libs won’t be playing the protest songs released last week by popular rock duo Polish Club, with Boys on Vacation referencing Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s infamous Hawaiian holiday and Bad Vibrations about rorts and lack of climate action. “It’s none of my concern if anyone is unable to realise that essentially all music is inherently political, especially in a time where the entire industry has been left to die by the government,” frontman David Novak said.
Don’t get bitter on Twitter
Spotted in Leichhardt, in Anthony Albanese’s seat of Grayndler: the “Golden Rule” has been updated for the 2022 election. As the campaign enters its final fortnight, and passions rise, it’s a sentiment we should all remember. Stay kind, Australia.
Fresh poll paints grim future for Albo
A fresh poll is spelling trouble for Anthony Albanese ahead of next year’s federal election as Australians put the PM on notice.
Prepare for a summer of discontent
The timing of the next federal election is likely to condemn us to an excruciatingly long unofficial campaign, sapping all the fun to Christmas and beyond, writes Patrick Carlyon.