Premier sidesteps ‘ageist’ criticism
No one likes doing negative campaigns, but the facts are they work
— SAM McQUESTIN
PREMIER Will Hodgman has pointedly failed to back Liberal Party state director Sam McQuestin’s handling of the Pembroke campaign.
Mr McQuestin yesterday stood firm amid controversy about what he called his “negative campaign”, which attempted to make the age of independent candidate Doug Chipman, 71, an issue in the byelection for the Legislative Council division of Pembroke.
A Twitter post and a media release suggesting Alderman Chipman, who is Clarence mayor, was not up to the job may have breached the state’s anti-discrimination laws, which prohibit “offensive, humiliating, intimidating, insulting or ridiculing conduct on the basis of age”.
But in a message to Liberal Party members posted on the party’s Facebook page, Mr McQuestin doubled down, saying the tactic had been carefully considered.
“Over the weekend we took the deliberate decision to distribute material highlighting why we believe Mr Chipman is not the best candidate for Pembroke,” he wrote.
“No one likes doing negative campaigns, but the facts are they work — just ask Mr Shorten and his ‘Mediscare campaign’.
“The difference here is that ‘Mediscare’ was a lie but Mr Chipman’s age is a fact.”
Feedback on the post was universally negative, criticising the party for what commenters perceived as an ageist attack on Mr Chipman.
In State Parliament yesterday, Mr Hodgman ignored a question posed by Labor’s Michelle O’Byrne and repeated points of order to deliver a lengthy response in praise of the Liberal candidate.
“Do you stand by your party director who has justified it by saying, ‘negative campaigns work’?” Ms O’Byrne asked.
Mr Hodgman replied: “Yes, I do stand by our candidate in Pembroke, James Walker.”
“He is doing a fantastic job.
“He is a very enthusiastic young candidate, but he is doing so in very difficult circumstances as well,” he said.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said the Liberal’s tactics were disappointing.
“It’s not inappropriate for political parties to hold each other to account when it comes to policy, but when it comes to personal attacks that are really nasty, the public turn away very quickly,” she said.
“It’s disappointing to see the Premier didn’t criticise or hold his state director to account today for stating quite clearly that negative campaigns work.”
She said the Pembroke byelection campaign had become nasty and personal.
Ms White denied claims her 2010 “Pollywaffle” campaign, which focused on her youth at the expense of veteran members David Llewellyn and Michael Polley, was ageist.
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said the campaign tactics showed the Liberals were in a state of “mild panic”.
The by-election for Pembroke is on Saturday.
OPPOSITION Leader Rebecca White says her party will back tougher laws on the disclosure of political donations — and wants a total ban on foreign donors.
Labor will today announce a new policy for the compulsory disclosure of donations of more than $1500 within 14 days, and limits on donations to individuals and parties.
Tasmania is the only state without its own disclosure laws for political donations.
Federal rules mean the source of almost 90 per cent of donations to political parties in Tasmania are never revealed because they fall under the $13,000 reporting threshold.
The rest are made public only once a year and will not be revealed before the next state election, due in March.
Despite other states introducing lower thresholds and near real-time online disclosure, Treasurer Peter Gutwein defended the rules and says there are no plans for change.
Ms White said Labor was backing faster disclosure of donor identities and amounts.
“Labor’s policy will include lowering the disclosure threshold for donations and introducing expenditure caps for parties, individual candidates and third parties to the election process,” she said.
“We would require parties to regularly publish incoming donations to the organisation, candidates and elected members. We would ban donations from tobacco companies and foreign donations.
“Tasmanians have a right to know who is funding election campaigns and how much money they’re donating.”
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said she was glad Labor was following her party’s lead.
“We will be backing any move that delivers greater transparency and greater openness to the Tasmanian people in the lead-up to the state election and thereafter,” she said.
“The test will now be on the Liberals who say the system is working well, what they mean is that it is working well for them.”
Senator Jacqui Lambie has been prominent among those calling for reform.
“The Liberal Party is hiding behind their once-a-year disclosures and high donation thresholds,” she said.
“The Tasmanian people and Tasmanian businesses should be influencing Government policy, not foreign powers and multinational corporations looking to make a quick buck at our expense.”