Turnbull accuses Labor of running ‘systematic lies’ after Queensland Labor sends text which said it came from Medicare to ‘thousands’ of voters

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Australian federal police will investigate the use of political text messages sent on election day warning voters that Medicare would be privatised by a Coalition government.

Malcolm Turnbull raised the prospect of the investigation in his post-election speech on Saturday night, accusing Labor of running “some of the most systematic, well-funded lies ever peddled in Australian politics” after the texts, which said they came from Medicare, were sent to “thousands” of voters.

He blamed part of his shock election result on the belief that many voters had been misled by the texts and had therefore not voted Liberal.

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He made the accusation as it became clear it would be days before the outcome of the federal election would be known.

“There were text messages being sent to thousands of people across Australia saying that Medicare was about to be privatised by the Liberal party and the message – and the message, the message, the SMS message, came from Medicare,” Turnbull said.

Monique Ross (@rossmonique) Anyone else get a text from Medicare today? @abcnews #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/kLv4zf5WKy

“It said it came from Medicare – an extraordinary act of dishonesty. No doubt the police will investigate. This is the scale of the challenge we faced. And regrettably more than a few people were misled. There’s no doubt about that.

“That is what our opponents offered – they offered it under the guise of some scare campaigns so dishonest – a pretty shameful episode in Australian political history.”

On Saturday, Labor’s Queensland branch said it had sent the messages to voters’ phones urging them not to vote for the Coalition.

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When the text messages were received they appeared under the name “Medicare”.

A Queensland Labor party spokesman told Guardian Australia: “The message was not intended to indicate that it was a message from Medicare, rather to identify the subject of the text.

“The message was consistent with Labor’s message throughout the campaign. There should be no surprise that this was not a government message.”

The AFP has confirmed it has been asked to investigate the matter.

“The Australian federal police can confirm it received a referral on Saturday 2 July 2016 in relation to the receipt of text messages allegedly sent from Medicare,” a statement said on Sunday.

“This matter is now being evaluated and whilst this occurs it would not be appropriate to provide further comment.”

Turnbull used his speech to lambast the ALP for their generally negative tactics during the campaign, saying despite everything he was still confident the Coalition would form majority government.

He thanked Liberal party supporters for their work during the campaign, and said some faced an intimidatory atmosphere from political opponents.



“I want to acknowledge the great work and leadership shown by the federal campaign director, Tony Nutt, and our whole campaign team, and all the Liberal and National party workers in every electorate and every polling booth often having to stand up to intimidation and threats in there,” he said.

“I want to thank every single one of them.”



The AFP has played a role already in the story of the 2016 election campaign, executing two search warrants in Melbourne over allegations of unauthorised leaking of confidential national broadband network documents.

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One office raided belonged to Labor’s communications spokesman, Stephen Conroy.

A week later, the NBN chairman, Ziggy Switkowski, wrote an opinion piece, published in Fairfax Media, defending his decision to ask the federal police to investigate the leaks of NBN documents.

He made no apologies for calling in the federal police, leading Labor to officially complain to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet that Switkowski had broken the caretaker conventions by writing the opinion piece.