Category: News and Views
QUOTE
By Malcolm Farr and Heath Aston
November 23, 2007 12:00am
JACKIE Kelly called it a chuckle but yesterday her husband apologised and another "prankster" quit the Liberal Party in shame.
And Prime Minister John Howard was caught up in the affair as he tried to put in final campaigning before a national audience in Canberra.
At issue were the actions of a group of Liberal volunteers who on Tuesday were caught distributing a nasty, fake letter in the western Sydney seat of Lindsay.
They set off from the home of Ms Kelly, who won the seat in 1996 but is retiring at this election, and drove to St Marys.
The letter quoted a non-existent Islamic group saying it backed Kevin Rudd because Labor supported forgiveness for the Bali bombers and construction of
a mosque in St Marys.
On Wednesday, the Liberals expelled two members involved and yesterday Greg Chijoff, husband of Liberal candidate in Lindsay Karen Chijoff, volunteered
his resignation.
"It is with deep embarrassment that I advise you I was involved with the distribution of this flier, which I regret," Mr Chijoff wrote to NSW Liberal director
Graham Jaeschke.
Ms Kelly's husband also sent in his "sincere apology".
"I confirm that neither the candidate for Lindsay nor Jackie, nor you, had any advance knowledge of this matter," Gary Clark wrote to Mr Jaeschke.
"I also take this opportunity to apologise to other members of the community, particularly the Muslim community to whom I bear no malice for the offence
caused by my actions and authorise you to make this letter public."
Perhaps the most embarrassing moments for the Liberals came when Ms Kelly ignored advice to not comment and told ABC radio listeners the letter had been
a send-up that obviously hadn't worked.
"If you read it you would be laughing. Most people who have read it have sort of said that's a Chaser-style of prank," she said.
Ms Kelly then tried some comedy of her own, inventing "an ALP goon squad, which I understand was led by some unionists, (who had) chased down and hunted
down and tried to intimidate. I understand there was even a fight."
But later on 2UE she said her husband had been skylarking after a few beers.
"I'm a bit upset with him but no, look I love him," she said.
"He hates the unions with a passion and after weeks and weeks of letterboxing, what gets to be boring material, of a repetitive message that we get them
to letterbox all the time, they come up with their own skylarking over a few beers and think that something's funny."
Despite Ms Kelly's claim no-one was laughing in Boronia Rd, St Marys. Resident Marta Toth-Gulyas said she first thought it was a prank but her confusion
grew to anger when informed of the pamphlet's origins.
"It's distasteful, it's a low blow and it's deceptive," the registered nurse said.
Ms Toth-Gulyas had planned to vote Labor. "I'd say this has cemented my vote, it's just not funny and it's not the way to go about getting votes," she said.
Prime Minister John Howard strongly rejected the letter and its couriers, and said no public funds had been involved.
"I'll still talk to Jackie but what happened was wrong," Mr Howard told The Daily Telegraph.
Kevin Rudd said the bogus flyer showed the Coalition had nothing to offer.
and later on...
QUOTE
November 25, 2007 01:50pm
A DOMESTIC showdown was looming today between failed Liberal candidate for Lindsay Karen Chijoff and her husband over his fake leaflet campaign, which is
being blamed for contributing to Labor's national victory.
A furious Ms Chijoff says she knew nothing of the involvement of her husband Greg in the distribution of fake race-hate election flyers from a bogus Islamic
group.
She said yesterday her husband had moved out of the family home and they had not spoken for days.
The scandal, involving Greg Chijoff and others including the husband of former Liberal Lindsay MP Jackie Kelly, was a major distraction for the Liberals
in the final days of the campaign.
Treasurer Peter Costello said today the leaflets scandal was an "isolated, stupid thing in one seat" but added: "The blanket coverage just squeezed the
oxygen out of any other message."
Mr Chijoff was forced to quit the Liberal Party over the affair.
"I'm not speaking to him any more," Ms Chijoff told News Limited yesterday as she cast her ballot in the former Liberal-held western Sydney seat.
After conceding defeat last night, a visibly upset Ms Chijoff told ABC TV she would be discussing the controversy with her husband today.
Labor candidate David Bradbury said the leaflet scandal contributed to his reclaiming a seat lost to the Liberals in 1996. The ALP won Lindsay back with
a swing of nearly 10 per cent.
Liberal Senator Mitch Fifield says Liberals across the nation will be angry about the leaflet.
Senator Fifield told ABC radio the "Lindsay effect" may have had a far-reaching impact and prevented the Coalition getting its message out in the final
days of the campaign.
Ms Chijoff and Ms Kelly denied any knowledge of the leaflet stunt.
Ms Kelly last night said: "I really feel for Karen, just the effort that she's put in, she must be devastated."
Asked if the Lindsay scandal was partly responsible for the Liberals' poor showing in NSW, and across the country, state Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell
said it "might have contributed to the defeat".
"I was disgusted and appalled at the tactic, it let down the Liberal Party, it let down Liberal supporters," he said.
"It might have contributed to the defeat, but I'm happy for the federal party to make that final examination.
"I simply note that the swing in NSW was only slightly over the national average, and below the swings that occurred in two other states."