‘MEDISCARE’-style political campaigns could soon be illegal under new measures being pushed by the Turnbull Government.
Harsh penalties including jail time are being considered for offenders.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is looking to make impersonating a Commonwealth entity a crime after the text messages purporting to be from Medicare were sent during the 2016 election campaign, Sky News reports.
The resulting ‘Mediscare’ campaign dominated headlines in the weeks leading up to the election.
Labor had used text messages, alongside fake member cards, to claim the public health system would be privatised by a Liberal government.
An Australian Federal Police investigation later found the campaign was legal.
But now a parliamentary committee is calling for new offences for impersonating a Commonwealth officer or entity.
The new laws would also make it illegal for Commonwealth logos and symbols to be used to mislead the public during election campaigns.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/turnbull-targets-mediscarestyle-political-tacti...