By now, it's likely you've seen a Liberal Party ad saying "it's not easy under Albanese." You might have heard of the .
You may have some questions, like: 'who pays for all of this?' 'Can conservative ?' 'Is there anything in the law stopping politicians from outright lying to the public before they go to the ballot box and decide who will run the country for the next three years?'
It's a tricky space, but here are some answers.
The basics
When a party, candidate, lobby group or other interest group use ads to push a political agenda, disclosure - basically who authorised the ad (think, “authorised by” etc etc, the quickly spoken fine print on TV) - is required.
Let’s get some quick ones out of the way. Yes, parties (or independent candidates) can advertise all year round, even if there isn’t an election in sight. Yes, you can get texts from politicians (but you can block them after the fact). No, there’s no cap on how many ads parties can run in the lead-up. And no, parties don't have to be given equal airtime or print or online advertising space. But, there is an expectation that parties present in the last parliament have a reasonable opportunity to broadcast political ads.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) controls the legality of things like ad authorisation, while the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is in charge of broadcast rules, mainly the blackout period.
A vandalised United Australia Party billboard on Sydney's Parramatta Road. Credit: Reddit Sydney thread
There’s a 'blackout period'. It’s got some issues
While there's no cap on how many political ads a party, candidate, or lobby group can run during an election campaign, there is something called a “blackout period”.
It prohibits the broadcast of any political ads from the end of the Wednesday before polling day until the close of the poll on voting day.
It’s contentious. Political marketing expert from the Australian National University, Dr Andrew Hughes, explains.
“There's no blackout law really, it's a bit of a mess,” Dr Hughes told The Feed.
The law, monitored by ACMA, only covers traditional media (television, radio and newspapers) - not social or digital media.
Dr Hughes said on the eve of the last federal election, in 2019, the Coalition was running over a thousand ads on Facebook alone.
There was talk of scrapping the law after traditional media organisations raised concerns about the fairness of social media giants being allowed to raise revenue through hosting political advertising while they could not. But no change was made.
“What we're seeing now is a lot more emphasis on digital and social media because that's where most of us are found online,” Dr Hughes.
A better framework, he said, would have been a proper blackout period across both broadcaster and social media or allow it to be a “wild west” to the end.
Wait, so politicians don't need to tell the truth in the ads?
Apart from South Australia and the ACT, there is no legislation requiring truth in political ads.
And, when it's a federal election, the AEC legislation supersedes state and territory law requiring truth in political ads.
Victoria is currently considering whether to bring in the "truth law" with Labor, Liberals and the Greens showing early support.
South Australia's law was put to the test during the state's election in March. Labor was asked to take down 'misleading' ads on ambulance ramping (where ambulances with patients are forced to wait outside hospitals because emergency departments are full) that contradicted official data.
The consequence of breaking this law is a fine and having the ad taken down.
But Dr Hughes said the response should be proactive, not reactive.
"By that time, they had attracted enough interest and been seen by enough people that the objective had been achieved. They didn’t care," he said.
“Parties know what’s going on, they know where the holes are because that’s where they’re active.”
A protester wearing a giant puppet head depicting Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull holds a sign criticising the government's policy on Medicare outside a polling booth in 2016. Source: AAP / DAN PELED/AAPIMAGE
Mediscare’s message was that Medicare was at risk of privatisation under the Coalition, while the death tax - once a tax used by previous governments to claim a portion of someone’s estate when they died - has been abolished since 1979. The Coalition campaign suggested that was going to change if Labor won office.
“They worked on the fact that we weren't able to discern quickly enough that the messages were inaccurate, ” Dr Hughes said.
A Facebook post from the LNP MP George Christensen making the false claim that Labor planned to introduce a death tax if it won the 2019 federal election. Credit: Facebook/George Christensen
For ads that attack someone’s character, even launching a defamation case can be a bit pointless for election purposes, said Dr Hughes.
“[Defamation cases] can go on for weeks and weeks and by the time all that happens the election is over”.
Who pays for political ads? Are they taxpayer-funded?
After each federal election or by-election, the AEC distributes money to eligible political parties, candidates and Senate groups to reimburse them for their election spending provided they receive at least four per cent of first preference votes in an election.
There's a formula to it. The value of the election funding entitlement is calculated by multiplying the total number of first preference votes by the current election funding rate of $2.914 per vote.
This covers anything from the insurance for volunteers, to mailing expenses for flyers.
Total election funding paid by the AEC in relation to the 2019 election was $69,647,101.79.
The top three payouts were as follows: the Liberal Party of Australia received $27,569,610.09, the Australian Labor Party received $24,684,039.58 and the third was Pauline Hanson's One Nation which received $2,840,766.45.
But - as this money doesn't come until after the election season, parties rely on donations to raise revenue, which is also murky, according to Dr Hughes.
Are politicians really allowed to text me?
As you'll probably know, there is a "do not call" register that stops telemarketers from calling you. And there are laws requiring people who send you texts and emails to have your permission and give you a choice to opt-out.
But politicians and political parties are completely exempt from these laws - as are government bodies and charities.
