“Bill Shorten's retirement tax is hopeless for us people living in South Australia and a lot of people, my friends included, we rely on our stocks and shares and the dividends we get from them,” the man says, identified only as Jim, a 72-year-old South Coast retiree.

At first blush, he appears to be an ordinary voter worried about Labor’s plan to end cash refunds for franked dividends. The concerned citizen stars in a campaign video released on Friday by Georgina Downer, the Liberal candidate in the Adelaide seat of Mayo.

“Bill Shorten hasn't thought about the people who have worked hard ... and now we're not quite sure what's going to happen in the future,” the retiree laments. “That's one of the reasons why I'll be voting for the federal Liberal government at this election.”

Another reason might be that Jim — last name Bonner — is a devoted servant of the Liberal Party, having worked in myriad government and campaign roles over 40 years.