Liberal Party logos nowhere to be seen on Sharma’s campaign trail

The absence of Liberal Party logos on Dave Sharma’s election material has sparked claims he is trying to distance himself from the Coalition to keep his seat of Wentworth.

The total absence of Liberal Party logos on Wentworth MP Dave Sharma’s election campaign material has sparked accusations he is trying to distance himself from the Coalition in the must-win seat.

Mr Sharma’s corflutes and website promoting his campaign feature the Liberal blue colour, but unlike many of his government colleagues in neighbouring seats, the name of the party or its logo is not featured anywhere.

No Liberal Party branding on Dave Sharma campaign material.

Dave Sharma’s election campaign material has raised eyebrows within the Coalition.

Once a safe blue-ribbon Liberal electorate held by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, Wentworth, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, is now held by Mr Sharma with just a 1.3 per cent margin.

Labor’s Wentworth candidate Tim Murray told The Daily Telegraph the lack of Liberal branding on Mr Sharma’s campaign material and website seemed “extraordinarily pointless”, given voters were well aware he was a member of government.

“If he’s not putting the Liberal Party logo up does that mean he does or doesn’t stand for their policies,” Mr Murray said.

“I get when your party’s on the nose you may not want to associate … but (Mr Sharma) should be honest with voters.”

Labor’s candidate for Wentworth Tim Murray says Mr Sharma should be honest with voters in his electorate.

Regardless, Mr Murray said Wentworth locals “really think about how they’re going to place their vote”, and were unlikely to be duped by a lack of political branding.

Independent candidate Allegra Spender said it was clear Mr Sharma was trying to distance himself from the Liberal Party in the minds of local voters.

“The Liberal Party hasn’t addressed the people of Wentworth’s concerns, so it’s not surprising Dave Sharma is trying to distance himself,” she said.

The independent candidate for Wentworth Allegra Spender says it’s not surprising Mr Sharma is distancing himself from the Coalition.

“Voting for Sharma means voting for the Liberal Party, and we know what that looks like: three more years of delay and denial on climate change, no national integrity body, and three more years of growing government debt.”

Mr Sharma said his campaign material was “business as usual” because he had not carried Liberal logos on his promotional material during the 2019 election either.

“Nothing has changed this time around,” he said.

Mr Sharma said every candidate varied their material depending on what their name recognition was like, noting newer candidates often needed to highlight their party because they were lesser known to the community.