Election 2022: Sprung — the fake home of LNP election hopeful Vivian Lobo

A candidate in Queensland’s most marginal seat has provided false evidence to the electoral commission claiming he is living at an address that is abandoned and unfurnished.

LNP candidate for the seat of Lilley, Vivian Lobo leaves his home in Windsor, Brisbane.

The LNP candidate for Queensland’s most marginal seat has provided false evidence to the electoral commission by claiming he lives in his electorate when the address is in fact an abandoned, unfurnished and dilapidated house.

The Australian can reveal Vivian Lobo, who is standing in the ultra-marginal seat of Lilley in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, is actually living in a stylish Queenslander with city views a 23-minute drive away in the upmarket suburb of Windsor.

His home is in the neighbouring electorate of Brisbane, held by Liberal MP Trevor Evans.

The address Mr Lobo provided to the Australian Electoral Commission as his residence is a property in Everton Park, within the seat of Lilley, where he is running as the Liberal National Party candidate and challenging the incumbent Labor MP Anika Wells, who holds the seat with only a 0.6 per cent margin.

Vivian Lobo leaves his home in Windsor, Brisbane.

He has also repeatedly insisted to voters that he is living in Lilley in social media posts.

But when The Australian visited the address that Mr Lobo had provided to the AEC on Thursday, the run-down home had no furniture, was obviously deserted and the garden was in a state of disrepair.

Neighbours said that no one had lived at the home for at least a year.

The AEC classifies registering a false address with them as being “enrolment fraud” which can carry a penalty of 12 months imprisonment.

“Enrolment fraud occurs if an elector makes a false claim for enrolment, for example using a false name or address,” the AEC’s ­website states.

Outside the abandoned property in Everton Park.

“The offence provisions relevant to this activity are found in the Criminal Code Act 1995. In particular, ss. 136 and 137 provide that it is an offence to give false or misleading documents or information to a Commonwealth Officer in purported compliance with a Commonwealth law.

“The penalty specified in the Criminal Code for these offences is 12 months imprisonment,” the website states.

On Thursday, The Australian photographed Mr Lobo leaving for work from his actual home in Windsor in his car that is branded “Vivian Lobo Candidate for Lilley”.

Property records show Mr Lobo bought the property, which is close to the parklands, the city and cycle tracks, in December 2017 for $726,000, settling on it in February 2018.

The front fence around his house features a Trevor Evans corflute.

Neighbours say that no one has lived at the Everton Park home for at least a year.

A voter asked Mr Lobo on Facebook this week whether he lived in the electorate where he was standing as a candidate.

“I have been living in the electorate,” Mr Lobo said.

The voter pressed him on the matter, saying he had heard information in the media that Mr Lobo was living outside of Lilley.

An exchange between a voter and Mr Lobo on Facebook.

“I can tell you that the information is inaccurate,” Mr Lobo responded.

The home where Mr Lobo claims to be living in Everton Park is clearly empty, with no furniture or furnishings in any rooms.

The property is dilapidated and appears to be abandoned.

One neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, said it had been vacant for at least a year.

“We’ve never actually seen anyone living there,” the neighbour said. “I don’t know whether they’re selling or taking it down. We’ve seen one of those cars go up there a couple of years ago. I don’t know what’s going on.

“They haven’t actually lived there. I don’t know, they come in and go. That’s about it.”

In response to questions from The Australian, Mr Lobo claimed to be moving into the property on Thursday night, despite it being utterly empty when The Australian visited during the day with no removalist van in sight.

“I enrolled in the electorate as I had signed a lease in Everton Park with the intention to move in straight away,” he said.

A room inside the property.

“However, due to my campaign commitments and difficulty with getting tradespeople to the home, I was delayed moving in,” Mr Lobo added.

The seat of Lilley came down to the wire in the 2019 federal election with Labor pulling ahead by 1200 votes. It is the most marginal seat in Queensland and Labor’s second-most marginal seat nationally.

The house appears to be unfurnished.

Despite the close result in 2019, the Coalition does not hold strong hopes of winning the seat previously held by former treasurer Wayne Swan.

Mr Lobo was named as the candidate for Lilley in February 2022, replacing army veteran Ryan Shaw who withdrew for personal and health reasons.

The exterior of the house.

Additional reporting: Remy Varga