Former Victorian Liberal Party boss Sam McQuestin is fined $40,000 after a court rules federal election ads printed in a regional newspaper were in breach of laws because the authorisation was too small and difficult to read.
The Liberal Party ran newspaper ads prior to the 2022 federal election in the marginal Victorian seat of Corangamite.
But as the Liberal Party of Victoria found out on Tuesday, what the Australian Electoral Commission and the Federal Court will not tolerate is a failure to clearly disclose who is behind those ads. A $40,000 fine was issued due to the way the Liberal Party authorisation message appeared in the ads.The breach has cost the former Victorian Liberals state director Sam McQuestin $40,000, although the party has indicated it will cover the fine.
"The need to protect free and informed voting is not diminished as election day approaches," Judge O'Bryan said. As state director of the party, Judge O'Bryan said Mr McQuestin bore responsibility for ensuring the ads complied with the act.
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