South Australia's electoral commissioner has ordered the state Liberal Party to issue corrections for "misleading" and "inaccurate" statements it made on campaign flyers.
Commissioner Mick Sherry found the flyers — which were distributed around Adelaide's north-east — falsely said the Labor Party had plans to extend the O-Bahn busway to Golden Grove and demolish dozens of homes.
It read: "Don't let State Labor destroy your home!"
Mr Sherry acknowledged that while Labor had indicated it would look into options for extending the O-Bahn, there were no current plans to do so.
"I am satisfied that the material… is misleading and inaccurate to a material extent," he wrote in a letter to the Labor Party.
A Department for Infrastructure and Transport study released last year found extending the busway from Tea Tree Plaza to Golden Grove would destroy too many homes and trees, with the government instead promising to go ahead with the second stage of an upgrade of Golden Grove Road.
The Liberal Party will have to send out new flyers withdrawing the statement and correcting the record.
Liberal Party 'spreading lies'
Opposition government accountability spokesman Tom Koutsantonis said the Liberal Party had been "caught red-handed spreading lies across the north-eastern suburbs".
"Thankfully, the independent umpire, the electoral commissioner, has called out the Liberals for their lies.
"The electoral commissioner agrees: Labor does not have a plan to demolish anyone's home, and thankfully now the Liberal Party will be forced to admit they have been caught lying to the people of the north-eastern suburbs."
Labor flyer also criticised
Liberal Party state director Sascha Meldrum said her party was taking advice on the matter and had a few weeks to respond.
She said the electoral commissioner recently upheld a complaint against Labor after material it distributed in marginal seats only included an authorisation by the party but not from an named individual as required.
She said it should have had Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas's name on it.
State Labor secretary and Upper House candidate Reggie Martin last month apologised for a racist flyer put out during the 2014 state election.
Allegations that party members had bullied an MP into not speaking out about the flyer will be investigated by a parliamentary inquiry.
Treasurer Rob Lucas said it was "a major embarrassment" for the Labor leader.
Mr Koutsantonis said failing to authorise a flyer correctly was not the same as misleading voters.
"They're trying to equate putting the words 'state Opposition' rather than the name of a real person with lying," he said.
"Ours was an error; theirs was misleading, deceptive, and a lie."
The marginal Liberal-held electorates of King, Newland and Elder will be among the most hotly contested seats at the 2022 election.
