Northcote by-election: Greens ads ‘misleading’ and ‘disgusting’

ADVERTISING by the Greens party supporting its candidate for the Northcote by-election, Lidia Thorpe, has been criticised for being ‘absolutely disgusting’ and inaccurate.

Australian Greens leader Dr Richard Di Natale and Greens candidate for Northcote Lidia Thorpe. The party has been accused of using misleading advertising material containing unsubstantiated claims. Picture: Stefan Postles

THE Greens have come under fire for a “misleading” political advertisement during the final days of the Northcote by-election campaign.

A video ad posted to the Australian Greens Facebook page yesterday featured a Northcote Leader front page image and claimed a family in public housing would be “kicked out”.

The November 8 article profiled a woman who feared she might be unable to return to her home in the Walker St public housing estate once a planned redevelopment was completed.

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While the Leader article raised concerns with the proposal, the ad’s script along with a red banner featuring the words “kicked out” was seen by many commenters as misleading or worse.

The woman and her family stand to be temporarily moved to nearby public housing while the ageing estate is rebuilt to modern standards.

The Greens ad also stated the State Government was selling 80 per cent of Northcote public housing land to developers but did not attribute a source for this claim.

A screen grab from the Greens advertising, which has provoked concerns about whether it is accurate and appropriate.

Voters, including Greens supporters, voiced concern about the ad on social media last night.

“I am a Greens voter and will vote Green again, but this ad is misleading … I think you should remove this ad,” wrote Jason Cornwall-Jones.

“Absolutely disgusting to leverage off the vulnerable in our community to use as pawns in an election,” wrote Brendan Moore.

After the Leader raised concerns with the party about the way the paper’s coverage was being used the ad was removed from the Greens’ Facebook page late Thursday evening.

Greens advertising, which has been claimed to be misleading.

But the link remained active and the ad continued to be shared by users this morning, racking up more than 1300 views.

Asked about the claim in the ad that “80 per cent of Northcote’s public housing land” would go to developers, Greens State MP for Melbourne and housing spokeswoman Ellen Sandell said the 80 per cent figure referred to the amount of “public housing land across at least eight sites” that was going to be “sold to private developers by the Labor Government”.

She said the figure was based on analysis of government documents by public housing advocates.

The Leader has been unable to obtain a copy of the analysis.

On the claim that a family would be “kicked out” of its home, Ms Sandell said: “It is impossible to get a straight answer on the future of these tenants.

“If the current plan goes ahead, there is no certainty that these residents will ever be able to return.’’

The dilapidated 87-unit Walker St estate will be torn down and rebuilt in a public-private partnership that will see private dwellings built alongside public housing.

The developer will be required to increase the number of public housing units at the site by at least 10 per cent.

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All affected tenants will be moved to other public housing and Housing Minister Martin Foley has signed a pledge giving all tenants the right to return.

Premier Daniel Andrews dismissed the ad on Friday morning.

“I don’t give much thought to the Greens and their advertising, we’re far too busy campaigning as hard as we can to give Northcote voters a choice,” he said.

“Tomorrow is your opportunity to make renting fairer and housing more affordable.”

Voters go to the polls tomorrow to choose a new MP for the seat of Northcote.

The race has been tight but recent polling has given Labor’s Clare Burns a slight edge over the Greens’ Lidia Thorpe.

@edjgardiner