"That men can use women's toilets. For men to wear women's clothing. That the following vocabulary cannot be used: dad, mum, older brother, younger brother, older sister, younger sister, uncle, aunt, boy, girl, pregnant, and other gendered words." With three weeks until the May 18 poll, the scare campaign is the latest example of just how toxic the federal election has become - and how easy it is to infiltrate cyberspace with misinformation. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Labor candidate for Chisholm Jennifer Yang (right), taken the day of his first WeChat session with Chinese Australians. Credit:AAP While it is not clear who is responsible for the message, it is not the first time Safe Schools - which was designed as a teaching resource to help LGBTI students - has been used as political fodder to woo voters, particularly in conservative or ethnic communities. In the 2016 federal campaign, Gladys Liu, now the Liberal candidate for the Victorian seat of Chisholm, was a prominent activist against Safe Schools, using the anti-bullying program along with same-sex marriage to mobilise the electorate’s Chinese community through social media.

Another similar scare campaign emerged on WeChat that year, linked to the Christian Democrats in NSW. Ms Liu's advocacy came back to haunt her this month, when audio resurfaced in which she is heard saying that members of the Chinese-Australian community felt the LGBTI issues were "ridiculous rubbish", abnormal and destructive - comments she now says were misrepresented. On Saturday, Ms Liu and the Liberals said they were not responsible for the latest anti-Safe Schools message. "This is not an ad distributed by the Liberal Party. All Liberal Party advertising is officially authorised," a campaign spokesperson said. Ms Liu told The Sunday Age she had seen the post emerge in a chat group in the last few days, but "it was not from me. Anything from me would have had authorisation from the party."

Labor, however, pointed the blame at the Liberals, with a spokeswoman saying: "They will do anything and say anything to distract from their cuts and chaos." Prime Minister Scott Morrison with Liberal Candidate for Chisholm, Gladys Liu, at her campaign launch held at Box Hill Golf Club in Melbourne earlier this month. Credit:SMH With the campaign switching into top gear this week as pre-polls open, social media platforms such as WeChat and Weibo are becoming increasingly important tools in marginal seats with large numbers of Chinese-Australian voters, including Chisholm in Melbourne’s east, and the NSW seats of Banks and Reid. WeChat chat groups can include up to 500 members. But in an indication of how LGBTI issues play out differently across electorates, the latest messaging about Safe Schools emerged only days after all parties vowed to do more to advance gay rights during a candidates’ forum hosted by advocacy group Equality Australia.

Speaking at the forum alongside Labor Senator Louise Pratt and Greens senator Janet Rice, Liberal NSW Senate candidate Andrew Bragg said that if elected, the Liberals would "redouble our efforts" to end discrimination against the LGBTI community - starting with the removal of the exemptions allowing religious schools to discriminate against students on the grounds of their sexuality. Loading In a notable shift, the Liberals also vowed to work with the states to tackle so-called gay conversion therapy, which continues to exist in Australia, largely through Evangelical groups purporting to help LGBTI people with their sexual "brokenness". The party’s stronger position on gay conversion was a distinct change to the previously dismissive approach of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a proud Pentecostal devotee who has consistently said the matter was "not an issue" for him. However many advocates remain unconvinced, pointing out that the shift in rhetoric came only after Mr Shorten promised to impose a national ban.