Election 2022: Allegra Spender ‘integrity’ tested on corflutes

Wentworth independent candidate Allegra Spender is refusing to release legal advice she claims clears her to put campaign ­material on power poles.

Wentworth independent candidate Allegra Spender. Picture: Renee Nowytarger

Wentworth independent candidate Allegra Spender is refusing to release legal advice she claims clears her to put campaign ­material on power poles.

The issue of corflutes and where they can be displayed has become central in the increasingly febrile battle for the eastern suburbs seat, held by incumbent moderate Liberal MP Dave Sharma on a margin of 1.3 per cent.

Mr Sharma said the refusal to release the legal advice undermined Ms Spender’s stand on integrity and highlighted a pattern emerging among the Climate 200-backed independents.

“They talk about transparency yet they refuse to disclose their supposed legal advice,” he said.

“They talk about integrity yet they continue to break the law.

“They talk about honesty and yet they are dishonest about who they will support to form government.”

Ms Spender has refused to ­remove her corflutes citing legal advice and has attributed the high number of complaints to Ausgrid to a campaign by the Liberal Party.

“We were advised by a senior counsel that the campaign was not in breach of the Electricity Supply Act and (we were) not under any immediate obligation to remove the signs,” she said last week.

“We were also advised the Electricity Supply Act does not currently entitle Ausgrid to ­remove corflutes. For community candidates who do not have party infrastructure and electorate ­office funding, corflutes are a central campaign element,” she said.

Ms Spender later tweeted a similar statement that mentioned the advice but omitted the reference to a senior counsel.

Less than two weeks earlier, Ms Spender said she would ­remove the election campaign material from the poles after being approached by Ausgrid.

Since Friday The Australian has repeatedly asked Ms Spender’s campaign office for the legal advice. Ms Spender, who has made integrity in government a central policy plank, did not return requests for comment or disclose the advice she received.

It is understood Ausgrid workers began removing corflutes from power poles in the electorate on Wednesday. Of the 70 ­removed, about 95 per cent belonged to Ms Spender.

Ausgrid said it was an offence to interfere with electricity assets, which ­included attaching campaign ­material to power poles without prior approval, for safety reasons under the Electricity Supply Act 1995.

Ausgrid wrote to all major parties ahead of the election to ­remind them of the rules around displaying campaign material on power poles.