Federal election 2022: LNP candidate for Lilley referred to AEC
An embattled LNP candidate vying for an ultra-marginal Queensland seat has been referred to Australia’s electoral body over allegations he may have provided false documentation about where he actually lives.
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An embattled LNP candidate vying for Queensland’s most marginal seat has been referred to Australia’s electoral body over allegations he may have provided false documentation about where he lives.
Vivian Lobo, the LNP’s last minute candidate for Lilley, told the Australian Electoral Commission he was living at an address in Everton Park within the electorate that turned out to be an unfurnished and dilapidated house
It has since been revealed, including through pictures taken by The Australian of Mr Lobo leaving his home, that he actually resides in a stylish Queenslander more than 20 minutes away in Windsor.
It is not uncommon for MPs or candidates to live outside the electorate they are vying for, but providing false or misleading information to the AEC is a criminal offence punishable with up to a year in jail or a fine of $12,600.
The Australian Electoral Commission, which on Friday referred a similar scandal in the Victorian seat of Isaacs to the federal police, confirmed it was looking into the situation surrounding Mr Lobo.
Mr Lobo maintained he had “intended” to move into the Everton Park home “straight away” after leasing the property but due to campaign commitments and “difficulty with getting tradespeople to the home” this was delayed.
Mr Lobo’s wife is also registered as a voter at the Everton Park address.
It is unclear why Mr Lobo, as the renter, was responsible for getting tradespeople in to make the property liveable.
The “eligibility basics” on the AEC’s website for voters seeking to update their enrolment details states people should have lived at the address “for at least one month”.
Queensland Labor state secretary Julie-Ann Campbell, in a strongly worded letter to the AEC sent on Friday, said news articles about Mr Lobo’s living arrangements “raised the serious prospect” that he had “committed enrolment fraud”.
“I write to express my concerns about the lawfulness of Mr Lobo’s actions,” she said.
“There is a substantial reason to believe that Mr Lobo’s enrolment is not legitimate and merits investigation by the AEC.”
Ms Campbell has requested the AEC deal with the matter with the “utmost expediency” considering early voters can head to the polls from Monday.
She also requested the AEC make “any appropriate referrals to the Australian Federal Police or the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions”.
The LNP did not answer questions about whether it would disendorse Mr Lobo, if the party had cross verified the address Mr Lobo had provided in nomination forms with his actual address and if there had been a failure of process on the party’s end.
The electorate of Lilley, in Brisbane’s inner north, is held by Labor’s Anika Wells with a margin of just 0.6 per cent.
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Originally published as Federal election 2022: LNP candidate for Lilley referred to AEC
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