Liberal MP roasted over high school reference in election campaign flyer in independent flyer

Liberal MP Dave Sharma has been mocked online over a detail in an election campaign flyer published in an Independent’s newsletter.

Liberal MP Dave Sharma has been ruthlessly mocked over the inclusion of an arguably irrelevant detail about his high school experience in an election campaign leaflet.

In a double-page spread in the newsletter of Indendent candidate Allegra Spender, Sharma was profiled in a spiel that detailed everything from his birth in Canada to his 16-year marriage to his wife, Rachel.

One standout feature of the lengthy biography however was the score Sharma received in his Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER) exams.

“I completed my HSC at my local public high school, finishing with a TER of 100.00,” he wrote.

The detail – while impressive – saw Sharma become the target of an online roasting, spearheaded by Labor councillor Philippa Scott.

“Dave Sharma, and I cannot stress this enough, has his TER in his campaign material,” Ms Scott posted to Twitter on Thursday, along with a photo of the detail in question.

Sharma has been roasted over his inclusion of his TER score in a campaign flyer. Picture: Twitter

The tweet left some calling into question the legitimacy of his claim that he received a perfect score, given the achievement is impossible under modern marking systems.

Ms Scott clarified that a score of 100 was very much possible “in ye olden days”.

She also paid tribute to the public school Sharma mentioned, and tacked on a subtle swipe concerning the education of his own kids.

“Shout out to the teachers of his comprehensive local high school Turramurra High School and the Teachers Federation who helped him get these great grades he’s still proud of 30 years later,” she wrote in a subsequent tweet.

“Since Dave has first hand experience of how great public school is, I hope he sends his kids to one as well.”

Responding to speculation he may have been dishonest about the score, Ms Scott confirmed he wasn’t making it up.

“OK two final things: it was possible to get a TER of 100 in ye olden days so no need to be a conspiracist about this. He’s an honest dork,” she said.

One of the more petty replies came from someone who shared a tweet from Sharma in 2018 that told kids there was more to life than their exam scores.

Dave Sharma, and I cannot stress this enough, has his TER in his campaign material. pic.twitter.com/AOGs1kibmM

— Cr Philippa Scott (@CrPhilippaScott) March 10, 2022

“Wishing good luck to #HSC students beginning their exams today. Give it your best, stay calm, and remember that though this feels big now, there is also much more to life,” his old tweet read.

Others questioned why mention of Sharma’s score was necessary at all.

“I’m sorry but, but why,” one wrote, which received the answer, “because it was when he peaked”.

“Not making fun. But he is 46 years old and still talking about it,” another said.

Many more piled onto the suggestion, with one accusing Sharma of doing “nothing of note since leaving school”.

Others took issue with the flyer omitting the fact he is a Liberal party candidate, and accused him of attempting to appeal to Ms Spender’s voters by using the colour teal.

Teal is typically only associated with independent candidates, but often will be strategically adopted by members of alternative parties.