Australia:With Australians going to the polls tomorrow the Liberal-National government's re-election campaign has been thrown into disarray by an anti-Muslim slur designed to hurt the opposition Labor Party.
A senior Liberal Party figure in New South Wales was involved in the distribution of a bogus leaflet purporting to come from the (non-existent) Islamic Australia Federation. Referring to the 2002 Bali bombings in which 202 people, including 88 Australians, died, it said: "We gratefully acknowledge Labors (sic) support to forgive our Muslim brothers who have been unjustly sentenced to death for the Bali bombings."
Following a tip-off that the leaflets were being put into letter boxes late on Tuesday night in the western Sydney seat of Lindsay, Labor party members intercepted and photographed Liberal state executive member Jeff Egan and the husbands of both the outgoing Liberal member Jackie Kelly and the party's new candidate Karen Chijoff, Gary Clarke and Greg Chijoff.
Prime minister John Howard condemned the affair yesterday and said he knew nothing about it until after the fact.
Mr Egan was expelled from the Liberal Party, but denied any responsibility for the leaflet. "I have been falsely accused of distributing unauthorised material. I categorically deny distributing any unauthorised material. I intend to clear my name," he said.
The scandal dominated the news all day yesterday, particularly after Ms Kelly gave radio and television interviews in which she dismissed what happened as just a "Chaser-style prank". This was a reference to an ABC television show which specialises in edgy political comedy. "I think if you read it you'd be laughing. Most people who have read it have said 'That's a Chaser-style of prank'," Ms Kelly said.
Chaserexecutive producer Julian Morrow invited Ms Kelly to join the comedy team. "It's a bit of a worry when the best argument you have to defend your ethical practices is that you were doing what The Chaserdoes.
"We are hoping this will lead to a profitable political consultancy for The Chaserin the future."
The reporting of the scandal meant that Mr Howard's final major speech of the campaign was barely noticed. His party had been counting on the speech as a last bid to turn the polls around. The coalition government has trailed Labor in all of the 101 polls since Kevin Rudd took over as Labor leader a year ago.
Two polls published yesterday, however, show a wide variance. One gave Labor a landslide lead of 57-43 after preferences, while the other was much tighter on 52-48.
Voting is compulsory in Australia and those who move abroad remain on the register for three years. Up to 1,000 Australians are expected to vote at Australia's Dublin embassy, while more than 20,000 will vote in London.