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The Lindsay pamphlet scandal was an Australian electoral scandal in which Liberal Party volunteers distributed fake election pamphlets, claiming to be from an Islamic organisation that was later found not to exist, that claimed the Labor Party candidate would support clemency for convicted terrorists and the construction of a mosque in the local area. The incident made national and even international headlines on 21 November 2007, three days before the 2007 Australian Federal election. 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. 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. The scandal disrupted the election campaign of Prime Minister John Howard which was enough to cost Howard his own seat of Bennelong at the election.〔http://theorstrahyun.blogspot.com.au/2007/12/howard-finally-concedes-defeat-how.html〕 ==The scandal== On 20 November 2007, an anonymous member of the Liberal Party contacted the assistant secretary of the ALP, Luke Foley, with information that a flyer linking Foley's party with an extremist Islamic organisation was to be distributed in letterboxes throughout the suburb of St Marys by Liberal members. Due to a redistribution of electoral boundaries, St Marys had recently been moved from the safe Labor seat of Chifley into Jackie Kelly's seat of Lindsay. Because of her impending retirement, Lindsay was at risk of falling to Labor. At 6.30pm that night, a group of Liberal members met at a home in Ladbury Avenue, Penrith. A short time later, they left that premises and entered another home across the street. This home was later identified as that of Kelly and her husband Gary Clark. 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. As the Liberal members entered the home in Ladbury Avenue, a Labor party member was observing them from a car parked in the street. Another group of Labor volunteers were deployed by Hutchins to St Marys to await further instructions. At 8.40pm, the group meeting in Ladbury Avenue left Kelly's home in three cars and drove to St Marys where they parted ways. Various Labor party members, now also including Hutchins and Foley, followed the group. 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. Egan continues to deny he was involved in or had any knowledge of the scam. A short distance away, in Magnolia Street, more Labor operatives had similarly ambushed another group of Liberals led by Clark. Clark was photographed attempting to hide his face behind one of the hoaxed flyers; Egan was also photographed with them. Greg Chijoff, husband of the new Liberal candidate for the seat of Lindsay Karen Chijoff, was also found to be involved. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lindsay pamphlet scandal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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