REMEMBER WHEN

PRIME Minister John Howard’s re-election campaign was dealt a savage blow by a hoax pamphlet distributed by Liberals in a marginal Sydney electorate.

Two new opinion polls showed Labor heading for a win, while Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph urged readers to vote for Kevin Rudd after backing the Coalition at every election since 1998.

On a day when Mr Howard was making his final set-piece appeal to voters, he was distracted by the bogus flyer letterboxed in the Liberal seat of Lindsay.

Mr Howard used his speech to the National Press Club to urge undecided voters to stick with the Coalition and not risk a change to Labor.

But the address was overshadowed by the pamphlet, dreamt up over a few beers by the husbands of outgoing Liberal MP Jackie Kelly and the woman who wanted to replace her, Liberal candidate Karen Chijoff.

Gary Clark and Greg Chijoff designed and distributed the flyer, which purported to be from the fictional Islamic Australia Federation and said the ALP wants the Bali bombers forgiven and backs construction of a mosque in western Sydney.

Mrs Kelly described it as a Chaser-style prank and said it was funny. But Mrs Chijoff was said to be ‘outraged’ when she found out about the brochure, which was distributed in suburban St Marys.

Muslim groups said they were being used as a political football, while the sister of Bali bomb victim Scott Lysaght said she was angry her brother’s death was being used as part of a political stunt.