Billboard campaign dodges fine print

CLIVE Palmer’s billboards and flyers don’t require authorisation, at least not yet.

This is the view of the Australian Electoral Commission, which oversees electoral laws.

The controversial businessman last month announced a move back into the political arena by changing the name of his deregistered Palmer United Party to the United Australia Party.

He has funded hundreds of bright yellow billboards around the country with the slogan “Make Australia Great” and issued flyers attacking the administrators and liquidators of the Townsville nickel refinery company he placed into voluntary administration in 2016.

None of Mr Palmer’s billboards or flyers carry an authorisation line, usually the small print providing a name and address of the person responsible for the material.

An AEC spokesman said an authorisation would be required if Mr Palmer’s party was registered and the material referred to an election or voting.

“The United Australia Party is not currently a registered political party under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, and the material that you describe does not make reference to an electoral event or to voting,” an AEC spokesman said.

“Only ‘ electoral matter’ as defined in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 requires inclusion of an authorisation.

“In the absence of any clear link to a currently registered political party or electoral issue, there is nothing in the material that falls within the jurisdiction of the AEC to investigate.”