Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has condemned the use of misleading how-to-vote cards directing Family First voters to preference Labor during the South Australian election.
Senator Brown noted a range of misleading Labor materials used in the lead up to both state elections over the weekend, from television advertisements attacking SA Liberal leader Isobel Redmond to automated calls in Tasmania to undermine the Greens.
"The use of unscrupulous tactics to mislead voters highlights again the need for federal truth in advertising laws," said Senator Brown.
"That is why next sitting period I will be moving for the Government to amend the Commonwealth Electoral Act before the next federal election to incorporate a Truth in Political Advertising Unit to monitor and regulate political advertising to ensure it is true and accurate."
"However, last week Labor and Liberal voted against such a unit."
"Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should now act to ensure we do not see a repeat of this indecent behaviour before the federal election."
"Labor is not the only guilty party. In the 2006 Victorian election, the Liberal party handed out their own cards which looked like Greens cards."
"And while Family First were the targets in Adelaide over the weekend, during the 2004 federal election they were the culprits when Senator Steve Fielding's party ran a huge TV campaign falsely claiming that I wanted to give drugs to kids."
"All of these tactics undermine standards in politics."