Lindsay pamphlet scandal

[1] The retiring Liberal member of parliament representing the federal Division of Lindsay, Jackie Kelly, was forced to explain why her husband, local orthodontist Gary Clark, was caught distributing the pamphlets with four other people.

[2] The pamphlets, claiming to be from "The Islamic Australia Federation", thanked the Australian Labor Party (ALP) for supporting terrorists involved with the 2002 Bali bombings.

In the meantime, Foley, Labor Senator Steve Hutchins and several party volunteers had organised a "sting" operation directed from the Log Cabin Hotel in Penrith.

In Boronia Road, the Liberal party group were approached and photographed by Hutchins and eight of his Labor volunteers as they attempted to distribute the bogus pamphlets.

Hutchins immediately identified Jeff Egan, Liberal party power broker and member of the State Executive, also a former deputy mayor of the City of the Blue Mountains.

[9] On 22 March 2008 NSW police confirmed that they had begun legal proceedings over the incident against five men including Greg Chijoff, Gary Clarke and Jeff Egan.

[10][11] Jeff Egan was expelled from the Liberal Party over the flyer, and Gary Clark and Greg Chijoff both resigned their memberships under threat of expulsion.

[12][13] While Egan denied all knowledge of the affair as a deliberate scam, Clark and Chijoff both sent letters of apology to NSW Liberal director Graham Jaeschke in which they claimed their wives were also unaware of the plot.

She said her first instinct when she saw the pamphlet was to laugh because it was a parody of some things that had occurred during the election campaign[16] and compared it to a prank by the satirical comedy team The Chaser.

My view is that it's a bit of Chaser-style prank.The Prime Minister, John Howard, had to spend part of his last pre-election public address to the National Press Club on 22 November answering questions about the scandal rather than discussing his policies.

[13] The Sydney-based chairman of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ikebal Patel, said falsification of election material created a further rift between mainstream community and Muslims.

[21] Media reports suggested this incident was part of a pattern of deceptive behaviour undertaken by Liberal party members in previous elections.

[23] On the day of the election, Chaser member Chas Licciardello confronted Karen Chijoff in an Osama bin Laden costume he had used previously during the APEC summit and attempted to pass her copies of the flyer.

[31][32] In June 2008, the president of the Labor electorate council in Lindsay alleged that the pamphlets were printed in a Liberal MP's office at taxpayer expense.