Election 2025: Wentworth MP Allegra Spender’s campaign material removed after Ausgrid complaint
Allegra Spender’s campaign material has been removed from power poles after a complaint was made to Ausgrid.
NSW
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Wentworth MP Allegra Spender’s campaign material has been removed from power poles after a complaint was made to Ausgrid accusing the teal independent of flouting the law.
Coalition Senator Dave Sharma accused Ms Spender of double standards and repeating the mistakes of the last election when corflutes on power poles became a vexed issue between campaigning parties.
Mr Sharma wrote to Ausgrid on Monday formally complaining about the corflutes attached to power on Moore Park Road in Paddington, which had been removed by the afternoon.
“Ausgrid’s prohibition against the placing of political material on their poles has been in place since the last election,” said Mr Sharma, formerly the MP for Wentworth.
“The Spender campaign knows this, but have chosen to go ahead and knowingly flout this.
“The candidate who campaigned on integrity as a slogan at the last election seems to think that this is something other political candidates must demonstrate, but not her.”
The corflutes on power poles on Moore Park Road in Paddington were removed by Monday afternoon.
Campaign material for Ms Spender and Ro Knox, the Coalition candidate for Wentworth, have been attached to power poles throughout the Eastern Suburbs.
Photographs provided to The Daily Telegraph show a volunteer attaching a corflute to a power pole as well as a corflute for Ms Knox vandalised with a Hitler moustache.
Ausgrid issued a warning to political candidates in February to not attach campaign material to power poles or electrical assets, which is prohibited by the Electricity Supply Act 1995, the Electoral Act 2017, and the Graffiti Control Act 2008.
Ausgrid Group safety executive Sam Sofi said attaching election material was a safety hazard as well as being illegal and time consuming and expensive to remove.
“Beyond the immediate safety hazards, removing these posters diverts our crews from essential maintenance and can impact the reliability of supply for all our customers,” he said.
“We understand the passion and energy that comes with an election campaign, but safety comes first.
“We urge all candidates to respect the integrity of the network and allow us to focus on keeping communities connected.”
Ms Spender and Ms Knox were approached for comment.
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