Sabotage of hundreds of election signs by Greens supporters, a firebomb, a stolen trailer, prosecution of a union member and a protracted offensive against independent candidates by News Ltd’s Cairns Post newspaper so far have marred the 2019 federal election campaign.

Candidates said although they knew they would be ignored or maligned by the Cairns Post, the newspaper’s exceptionally favourable promotion of sitting Liberal member Warren Entsch has gone far beyond expectations.

Entsch was the champion of gay marriage legislation last year which divided the nation on religious principles. Analysis of the plebiscite results since the passing of legislation has revealed the results were dodgy at the very least.

Vote Australia analysed the Australian Electoral Commission database from where the Australian Bureau of Statistics got its addresses. More then 248,000 envelopes marked “return to sender not known at this address” came back to the ABS.

The ABS did not give these names to the AEC enabling it to cleanse the roll.

These fictitious names remain on the electoral roll which allows those having access to these entries to register a dud vote at the federal election, a ploy developed by the Labor and Liberal parties some 30 years ago.

At the last federal election according to the AEC, at least 18,000 persons voted more than once in support of the ALP slogan ‘vote early and vote often comrade.’

The Townsville seat of Herbert, being hotly contested by Clive Palmer, was ‘won’ by the ALP at the last election by just 37 votes.

In spite of hundreds of requests to Prime Minister Morrison from constituents, he has steadfastly refused to follow the recommendations of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters to make voters provide identification when voting.

Leichardt is a marginal seat and voting fraud could be a lifeline for Warren Entsch or the saviour of ALP candidate and union hack Elida Faith.

Katters Australian Party candidate and charter boat skipper Dan McCarthy now is being attacked through social media by the Electrical Trades Union which is a sure indicator of his surge in the polls.

Once upon a time such election frivolity occurred only in corrupt Asian or African dictatorships, but it seems these tin pot nations had their training upgraded in Australia.

by Jim O’Toole, Townsville bureau