Wentworth MP Dave Sharma has denied he is trying to distance himself from the Liberal party following accusations his campaign material mimics the teal colour scheme of the independent candidate Allegra Spender.
Locals in the Sydney eastern suburbs electorate have taken to Twitter to point out the striking similarities between flyers distributed by Sharma and Spender.
Look what arrived in my letterbox today - Allegra Spender’s newsletter, and desperate Dave Sharma’s teal knock-off - with not one mention of the party he represents pic.twitter.com/e42F14PCNF
— maria kedar (@mkrosebay) March 10, 2022
They also point out Sharma’s flyer and neighbourhood corflutes make no mention of the Liberal party of which he is a member.
The change in colour scheme can also be seen on Sharma’s Instagram page with recent posts adopting the teal associated with Spender’s campaign while older posts feature the more traditional dark blue of the Liberal party.
Sharma’s website, which uses a deeper shade of blue than the distributed flyers, mentions the Liberal party in the fine print only and does not feature the party’s logo.
Dave Sharma pretending he's not in the Liberal Party, even going so far as to use the same colour as the popular Independent candidate in Wentworth electorate. Is this deceptive? #auspol pic.twitter.com/tKeR1GsVhA
— 🐨🌏 Prof Matt Haggis - sewer rat 🐀 🍉 (@matthaggis666) March 10, 2022
Once a safe seat, Wentworth has become a key battleground for the Liberal party, with Sharma holding it with a 1.3% margin. It was previously held by independent Kerryn Phelps.
Sharma on Friday said his campaign material had always been “on the blue spectrum” and denied he was attempting to distance himself from his own party.
“I’m the incumbent here, I’ve always been on the blue spectrum, and I didn’t think anyone owned colours!” he said in a text message.
“I’m running as the Liberal candidate, my material is all authorised by the Liberal party of Australia, and it will be Liberal against my name on the how-to-vote card and the ballot paper!
“I’d also make the point we are not in a campaign right now – no election has been called – and I’m communicating as the federal representative of everyone in the electorate.
“No one will be any doubt as to the fact that I’m a Liberal member and will be the Liberal candidate!”
I wonder if (and, if so, why) there are any other Liberals busy marketing themselves with an "independent" look at the moment? pic.twitter.com/9WiknqOlbX
— Dr Bro Sheffield-Brotherton (@BroOfHoppers) March 10, 2022
Spender claimed Sharma was “copying” the colours used on her election campaign material and said it was an attempt to distance himself from the Liberal party.
“The Morrison government has not addressed the concerns of the people of Wentworth so it’s not surprising at all to me that Dave Sharma is trying to distance himself from the Liberal party,” she said via email.
“Copying our campaign colours is a great start for Dave Sharma but now he needs to copy our policies.”
Looks like my opponent is a big fan of teal. Copying my colours is a great start. Now do my policies. Commit to voting in Parliament for a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030, a federal integrity commission, and the humane treatment of refugees #realteal
— Allegra Spender (@spenderallegra) March 11, 2022
Spender and other independent federal candidates have received funding from the Climate 200 group led by clean energy analyst and investor Simon Holmes à Court.
Holmes à Court took to Twitter to blast Sharma for the colour choice saying it was “desperately sad”.
#DoNothingDave is copying @spenderallegra’s colour scheme.
— 💧simon holmes à court (@simonahac) March 10, 2022
desperate. desperately sad.#WentworthVotes https://t.co/pHwTG6uWWX
Another Twitter user noted Sharma had also included his impressive final high school grading of 100 in his teal-coloured flyer.
Dave Sharma, and I cannot stress this enough, has his TER in his campaign material. pic.twitter.com/AOGs1kibmM
— Cr Philippa Scott (@CrPhilippaScott) March 10, 2022
Evan Ekin-Smyth from the Australian Electoral Commission said electoral laws did not require candidates to display party branding or affiliation.
“The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 does not mandate how party branding is used or not used – that includes colours,” he said.
“The pamphlet does appear to have an authorisation and the intent of authorisations laws is for people to be able to know who is communicating with them.”
