NOTE: I am not suggesting for a single second that the Fadden By-Election will be conducted with anything less than 100% integrity by the Australian Electoral Commission. This article instead focuses on candidacy concerns and truth in election advertising.
In 10 days' time, the people of Fadden (House of Representatives Electorate in SE Queensland) will be going back to the polls again to vote for a new representative to replace the retiring Stuart Robert.
At the time of writing this, the Liberal-National Party (LNP) hold the seat by a safe 10.6% which would ordinarily make it unlikely they would lose the seat. By-elections though are very unpredictable and we've already seen history made this year when the government flipped the former Liberal seat of Aston. It was the first by-election win by a government in over 100 years with the last such instance being 1920. Now being fair, the seat of Aston was a lot more marginal than the 10.6% that Fadden currently is.
So why does this election matter to someone who;
a) Isn't a Fadden voter and;
b) Is a Victorian
Well, the thing is this. There is a candidate in the Fadden By-Election who I know of quite well and I am of the firm opinion that she is trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes.
That candidate's name is Belinda Jones.
I want to make one thing very clear at this point;
I am all for people running for office as long as they meet the relevant requirements under s44 of the Australian Constitution (Must not hold foreign citizenship) and the requirements set out by the Australian Electoral Commission.
If they meet those requirements then yes, they are absolutely entitled to run for office. I extend that same view to Ms Jones.
Who Exactly is Belinda Jones? Belinda Jones is someone who has been incredibly active for a number of years in the #auspol community on Twitter. She has also written for "Independent" Australia for a number of years. There are other things about her that you can find out for yourself but these two things in particular matter.
What is the Issue Surrounding Ms Jones' Candidacy?
Belinda Jones is running as an "Independent" in the 2023 by-election. This is despite the fact that she is in NO WAY a true Independent.
Now if you read the AEC Nomination Guide for Candidates, it will say the following;
According to the AEC, Ms Jones meets that requirement.
Here's the thing though and this is what matters.
If you look at her Twitter account and her writings for "Independent" Australia, you will find that she is a massive ALP sycophant.
That also matters because according to her "she handed in her ALP Membership in March." So somehow she wants the people of Fadden to believe that a Former ALP-Member can suddenly become an "Independent" in two to four months. You've got to be joking...leopards don't change their spots overnight and Ms Jones is no exception to that rule.
I feel like the definition of Independent is truly being stretched to breaking point on this particular issue and surely this has to be addressed in some way because the following could happen;
Hypothetically I could be a member of a political party today and then resign tomorrow in order to nominate as an "Independent" in an upcoming election whether State or Federal.
In that above scenario, who the hell would truly believe that I was Independent?
How there isn't some sort of stipulation that someone needs to not be a member of a political party for say 6 months, before declaring themselves as an Independent is frankly astonishing.
How Exactly is Belinda Jones Representing Herself in this Election?
This question goes to the heart of truth in election advertising and when you look at her website, there are several inconsistencies that just scream FALSE.
On her home page alone, she mentions integrity 3 times (one of those as a subheading)
Her version of integrity is trying to organise a boycott of a bakery whose only "crime" was to have former Prime Minister Scott Morrison attend and speak to them.
Her version of integrity is trying to get a candidate disqualified under s44 of the Australian Constitution. She could've gone after ANY candidate but instead only went after the candidate who knocked off ALP candidate Kristina Keneally. Was she genuinely concerned or was it her partisanship that drove her to do this? I'm going with partisanship every day of the week.
Her version of integrity is punching down on someone poorer than her who managed to get a tattoo and suggesting they weren't the full quid even though on that person's profile, it clearly stated they had ASD, ADHD, ENDO and PCOS.
Her version of integrity is not mentioning at any stage on her website that she formerly was a member of the ALP and handed in her membership in March.
This last point above in particular goes to the heart of truth in election advertising. Political parties often use misdirection in advertising and sometimes they lie whether by omission or deliberately but Ms Jones representing herself as an "Independent" when that claim is questionable at best, is absolutely outrageous.
Her policies are surprisingly not terrible but I got to the last one and I just couldn't contain myself
Okay, let's be serious here for two seconds:
You're telling me that a well-known ALP sycophant is going to hold an ALP Government to account and people are actually supposed to believe this?
Anyone who is fooled by this should take a good hard look at themselves and then some.
Let me be very clear, I am not questioning Ms Jones' right to run in this election unlike what she did to the Independent who knocked off Kristina Keneally.
I am not questioning the integrity of the election as run by the Australian Electoral Commission because they, along with the state bodies do a magnificent job.
What I am questioning is really two things 1) What makes an "independent" an Independent? 2) How is it that someone can misrepresent themselves as being Independent given their very recent history of being an ALP sycophant? This goes to the heart of election advertising.
The people of Fadden have a very important choice to make soon and I for one am watching the outcome of this with interest. If Belinda Jones somehow wins, I think it's time the AEC starts to address the two questions I've outlined above.
Comments