Fury over anonymous ALP calls

THE Greens and the Liberal Party have called for a review of Tasmania's electoral laws after the ALP alleged the Greens wanted to legalise heroin.

THE Greens and the Liberal Party have called for a review of Tasmania's electoral laws after the Labor Party made 20,000 legal "robocalls" alleging the Greens wanted to legalise heroin without mentioning they were authorised by the ALP.

The calls - which were picked up by children as young as nine, according to the Greens - are not illegal under Tasmania's laws because the regulations for attribution do not cover telephone messages.

The recorded calls, which the ALP has now stopped, feature the voice of a "mother of two" who urges listeners to "say no to Greens" on Saturday.

The tactics come as opinion polls suggest Saturday's election will lead to a minority government, with the Greens increasing their representation, after 12 years of majority Labor government.

A recent survey by pollsters EMRS put the Greens vote at a historic high (22 per cent) - neck and neck with Labor (23 per cent) and the undecided vote (22 per cent), with the Liberals on 30 per cent.

Greens leader Nick McKim said a full consultative review was needed into the electoral laws.

"I think that the phone calls like the ones the ALP has been making should be authorised," he said.

Mr McKim has also repeatedly denied the claims made by Labor that the party endorses legalising heroin and says the phone calls and flyers distributed earlier in the week were inaccurate.

He was backed by national Greens leader Bob Brown, who said he wanted to introduce federal legislation to ensure election material was not misleading.

Senator Brown said in federal parliament yesterday that antics seen in the Tasmanian and South Australian campaigns warranted an independent commissioner for integrity in politics.

He also criticised the South Australia Labor Party for running advertising against Liberal leader Isobel Redmond that implied she supported illegal drug use and was soft on murderers in prison.

"I found those attack ads from Labor are not just tasteless but misrepresented her," Senator Brown said.

"They are disgusting and are aimed at getting people to change their votes on a false premise."

Tasmanian Liberal Party state secretary Jonathan Hawkes said the party would welcome a review of the state's electoral laws.

"It's just not consistent across all advertising mediums," Mr Hawkes said.

"It's an act that needs tightening up . . . I think it certainly needs to be looked at."

Premier David Bartlett said yesterday he knew at the beginning of the campaign that the "robocalls" might be an option and was told by the ALP a few days ago that they were being started.

He said they had since been pulled.

"I take full responsibility - the buck stops with me," he said.

"Being Premier is a genuine privilege, and with that privilege comes an enormous responsibility . . . and that responsibility is to withstand an enormous amount of scrutiny . . . and no one could argue that I haven't been scrutinised heavily, and I welcomed that over the last 22 months."