MP’S ire at Labor ‘smear’

THE Liberal chairman of a federal parliamentary economics committee has angrily rejected accusations he shared the personal information of voters with a private company.

Tim Wilson has rubbished the “fictitious” claims after being accused of politicising taxpayer-funded public hearings into a contentious Labor tax policy.

“This is just complete rubbish,” he told Sky News yesterday. “This is just a grubby, pathetic, sad smear campaign.”

Labor has referred Mr Wilson to the Australian Federal Police over claims personal data gathered by the parliamentary inquiry was given to a fund manager. Mr Wilson acknowledged his official web- site, which encouraged people to give evidence to the inquiry, also included a petition from Wilson Asset Management.

He holds shares with the fund manager and is a distant cousin of its owner. Some people who signed up to give evidence at the public hearings through the MP’S website have since received advertising material from the fund.

Mr Wilson said his shares would not be affected by Labor’s franking credits policy and argued Geoff Wilson was merely a distant relative.

“You have to go back to the 1850s to draw this ridiculous connection,” he said. Mr Wilson has led meetings across the country into Labor’s plans to scrap franking credits.