Council
27 November, 2024
Dyson airs flyer claims
ANOTHER flyer designed to deter south west Victorians from voting independent at the next federal election is allegedly landing in letterboxes across the Wannon electorate.
The flyer reportedly makes false claims and features a deep fake image of Independent candidate for Wannon Alex Dyson.
Mr Dyson said he viewed the scare tactics as a sign the community independent campaign is on the right track.
“We have almost 1000 volunteers running a positive campaign with honesty and integrity,” he said.
“But it does say a lot about the state of politics in general.
“Random people in Canberra have done a dodgy photoshop job putting my face onto someone else’s body on a flyer and spent thousands mailing it across south west Victoria.
“Imagine if that energy and money had gone into fighting for better roads or healthcare for the south west.
“This is the level of discourse Australian politics has sunk to – why would a young person who cares deeply about their community get into politics and try to make a difference if this is the type of behaviour they’re likely to face from major parties?”
Mr Dyson said people were tired of this sort of politics.
“The people of Wannon deserve better,” he said.
“We are focused on getting a better deal for Wannon and making decisions in the best interests of our communities.”
The Australian Electoral Commission’s (AEC) director of media and digital engagement Evan Ekin-Smyth said it was critical voters think about the content they’re consuming and the source of that content.
He said the digitally altered flyer was similar to signs lobby group Advance circulated of Independent candidates Zali Steggall and David Pocock in the lead-up to the 2022 Federal Election.
“In 2022, the AEC’s view was that this signage breached section 329 (of the Electoral Act) when displayed during the polling period,” Mr Ekin-Smyth said.
“At that point, an elector could have been misled as to which party the candidate represented when casting their vote.”
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