Election 2025: Embattled Bennelong Liberal candidate Scott Yung keeps quiet

The Liberal Party favourite in the race to secure the country’s most marginal electorate has refused to answer questions on a potential breach of state electoral law.

Scott Yung, who came close to unseating future NSW Premier Chris Minns in 2019, has seen his federal campaign for Bennelong threatened by historic campaign spending never revealed to the NSW Electoral Commission. Picture: Jeremy Piper

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Beleaguered Liberal Bennelong candidate Scott Yung has ducked questions on a series of potential campaign advertising breaches that have snarled his campaign at its outset.

Last week, Mr Yung confirmed he used free, undisclosed social media campaign advertising in 2019. Mr Yung said the work of PR firm Covert on his 2019 state election campaign – during which it produced Chinese-language advert­orials for his contest for the electorate of Kogarah – did not breach electoral law, despite him not declaring it on mandatory ­disclosure logs, because it was volunteered.

However, guidelines for the NSW Electoral Funding Act say candidates are still obligated to report the work of “a person whose labour consists of providing products or services that the person supplies as a function of his/her profession”, given it is considered a donation rather than volunteer labour.

The Australian understands senior party leadership has made inquiries about Mr Yung’s 2019 campaign.

He launched his campaign officially on Saturday after dodging the media through the first week of the election campaign.

On Monday Mr Yung and his rival, incumbent Labor MP Jerome Laxale, appeared at a forum convened by the Macquarie Park Ryde Business Chamber.

When questioned by The Australian, Mr Yung refused to provide further comment on the matter. “I’ve given you my comments on that issue and I’ve got nothing more to add,” he said.