Islamic Council calls for investigation
The Lindsay seat saga has deepened with more revelations over the use of questionable campaign tactics by the local Liberal Party branch.
It was revealed yesterday that members of current candidate Karen Chijoff's campaign team had used anti-Muslim leaflets as a way to convince people into voting for the Liberal's.
The individuals involved in the campaign were photographed dropping the leaflets into local letterboxes, forcing the resignation of up to three campaigners.
Outgoing Lindsay member Jackie Kelly yesterday said that the leaflets were intended as a joke, and could be seen as a "Chaser style prank".
Prime Minister John Howard disagreed with his former Minister, saying it was a serious matter, adding that he had no prior knowledge.
However further revelations have surfaced regarding unethical campaigning in the Lindsay seat, with a former campaign worker claiming he was forced to distribute fake how-to-vote cards in the hope of gaining further preferences.
Ken Higgs, who worked on Ms Kelly's campaign in 1998 and 2001 has claimed that the member asked campaign volunteers to pose as a local community group, handing out voting cards that preferenced Jackie Kelly and the Liberal Party first.
"It was actually a fake how-to-vote card ... intended to deceive voters into voting for Jackie Kelly instead of the the Save the ADI site candidate," Mr Higgs told ABC Radio.
"It actually said how to save the ADI site and the number one preference was Jackie Kelly and our Liberal party booth workers were told to put on a 'Save the ADI site' T-shirt and hand out this bogus how to vote card."
The husband's of both the current candidate Karen Chijoff and Jackie Kelly have admitted to being part of the leaflet distribution, with allegations its production took place in Ms Kelly's home.
Jackie Kelly denied the claim, saying that she had known nothing about it prior to the media's coverage, and that it was the result of campaigners who had become "drunk" and "bored".
Lindsay, a marginally held Liberal seat, has now become hotly contested, with local residents telling network news programs they were outraged at the campaign tactic.
Lindsay is held by a margin of just 2.9%.
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