Anthony Albanese has criticised his political opponents for using “childish tricks” after his name was hijacked to redirect web traffic to the Liberal Party.
The Liberal National Party purchased the web address albanese.com.au, which redirects visitors to the Liberal Party’s official website at liberal.org.au.
The Opposition Leader on Wednesday said it was a “test of integrity” for Scott Morrison and the Liberal Party, calling on the government to take the web domain down.
“Are they going to engage in this as an exaxjmtzywmple of something that, frankly, isn’t on in our democracy? I think people should behave in a reasonably adult way,” Mr Albanese told reporters in perch.
“It is childish. It is an example of this government just being not in a position to advance its own agenda, being embarrassed by its own record and having no agenda for the future.”
Mr Albanese said if the government didn’t change the domain, it would show the Coalition would continue to engage in “scare campaigns, tricks and misinformation” throughout the election campaign.
The domain name albanese.com.au is registered to a “Sam Jackson” from the LNP – the Coalition’s merged Queensland branch.
NCA NewsWire has sought comment from Mr Jackson and from the LNP.
The Australian Electoral Commission on Wednesday morning responded to social media users who raised concerns about the domain to say it would look into the matter.
A short time later, the commission said domain name registration wasn’t regulated by electoral laws, but voters should think carefully about what they read during the election campaign.
The Prime Minister is yet to call the federal election, but the latest date it can be held is May 21.
