Liberal’s Scott Yung defends spending omission, chocolate handouts to children

The Liberal’s embattled pick for the seat for Bennelong, Scott Yung, has defended his failure to declare thousands of dollars in campaign spending and says he does not regret handing out chocolates to children.

The Liberal’s Bennelong candidate Scott Yung, was joined by Peter Dutton on Monday evening. Picture: Dan Peled / Getty Images

Scott Yung, the Liberal’s embattled pick for the seat for Bennelong whose candidacy has been shrouded in a string of controversies, has defended his failure to declare thousands of dollars in campaign spending and says he does not regret handing out chocolates to children in front of a primary school.

Appearing alongside Peter Dutton at an event with rank and file party members on Monday evening, Mr Yung was repeatedly questioned over a series of scandals that have thrown him into the spotlight in recent months, imperilling the Liberals’ chances of prizing back Australia’s most marginal seat from Labor at the May 3 election.

Among the controversies besetting Mr Yung’s run are revelations – first reported in the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this month – that he did not disclose thousands of dollars in expenditure for outsourced campaigning on Chinese social media websites during his run for the state seat of Kogarah during the 2019 NSW election.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton met with the Liberal’s Bennelong candidate Scott Yung on Monday evening. Picture: Adam Head / NewsWire

Mr Yung has also faced questioning over a separate donations controversy after he claimed to have raised $60,000 at an intimate dinner with former prime minister John Howard in 2019, however the money was similarly not disclosed with the NSW Electoral Commission.

Asked about the incidents on Monday evening, Mr Yung deflected before later suggesting he would comply with electoral laws in the future.

“I’ve given all my comments to all the relevant media outlets,” Mr Yung told reporters gathered at the Gladesville Sporties Club. “I trust that everything will be done in accordance with the law.”

Pressed again if he was confident that he had not breached state electoral laws, Mr Yung assured reporters that he had not.

“Everything’s done in accordance with the law. Everything’s with the party, with the AEC and I trust the process.”

“I’ve checked the records. 100 per cent. I’ve got nothing more to add.”

Mr Yung’s campaign has been shrouded in controversy. Adam Head / NewsWire

The Liberal candidate was subsequently grilled over his decision to hand out Easter egg chocolates to primary school children outside Lane Cove public school, attracting criticism from parents, a complaint lodged by the school’s principal and a rare slapdown by the NSW Education Department.

The controversy additionally drew condemnation from Anthony Albanese who remarked the move was just one of several “incidents like this” which had beset the Coalition’s election campaign.

“Who doesn’t know that you can’t hand sweets to children who aren’t yours outside a school?” the Prime Minister asked. “No wonder the principal at that school in Lane Cove put in a complaint to the Liberal Party … He didn’t rock up there by himself.”

But on Monday evening, Mr Yung slammed his detractors, declaring it was a “joke” that he had been criticised for gifting children chocolates.

“I think it’s in the spirit of Easter,” Mr Yung declared. “I asked parents if I could give an Easter egg to their children and I just think it’s in the spirit of Easter.

“I just think it’s so important that we go back to basic, of having good spirit to celebrate the great things of what we have in this country.”

Asked if he regretted the incident, Mr Yung replied: “I don’t, no.”