Politics

NAMED: SA Liberal candidate Sarah Jared accused of corrupting electoral roll

An article appeared in yesterday’s Adelaide Advertiser by Michael Owen that shamed but did not name a person accused of corrupting the electoral roll for the purposes of gaining advantage in recent Liberal party preselection. 

The Addy wouldn’t name her but VEXNEWS certainly will. The person in question is Sarah Jared, who has been endorsed on the Liberal 2010 State Legislative Council ticket at number 7. Her colourful husband who commented in the article is Ashley Jared, long-time Party member and current State Policy Coordinator. He is seeking re-election this Saturday at the State Division’s Annual General Meeting.

Mrs Jared allegedly changed her residential address with the AEC for one month to the house of her parents-in-law, then changed it back. This enabled her to be eligible to vote in the preselection. In the end it turned out the vote would not have made a difference to the result of the preselection (Alana Sparrow, the next nearest candidate, was defeated convincingly).

The reason given by Mrs Jared was they were having ‘renovations’ done to their house in Naracoorte (where she and Ashley reside in the South East of South Australia) yet he did not bother to change his address and stayed there the whole time. More intriguing is the fact that during this time, she was running in the preselection for the Legislative Council, sending correspondence with the Naracoorte mailing address on it. People also noted that she commented on the ‘long drive’ from Naracoorte on the morning of the Legislative Council preselection.

PYNE WATCH

The incident casts a shadow of doubt over the integrity of the Jared clan, and particularly their allegiance to Christopher Moriarty, the endorsed candidate in Fisher. Mr Moriarty’s bid was supported by factional heavyweight and ally Christopher Pyne and the current State Executive (who can vote at preselections), almost all of whom are under Pyne’s control.

In related news – the AGM to be held this Saturday for the SA Division should be an interesting affair, with the Pyne left only nominating two hardcore factional candidates for Vice President. This is a strategically defensive move with preferential voting considering that there are four spots available. They are also backing former Liberal Senator Grant Chapman, who is aligned with the conservative faction, at number one (as are the conservative faction), and a fresh-faced independent for the fourth winnable spot that they seem to be trying to woo.

Also of interest – Christopher Pyne will be missing what is possibly the first State Council AGM since he has been a member of Parliament. Similarly, he strangely chose not to attend the Young Liberal AGM this year, at which his moderate faction lost control of the Movement for the first time in 21 years. Might be a sign of things to come at the State Council AGM.

Inquiry into Lib poll row likely
By MICHAEL OWEN

A FORMAL complaint of illegal branch stacking has been made to the Australian Electoral Commission.
This follows Liberal preselection candidates last month writing to state director John Burston urging the party to investigate the circumstances of people who were eligible to vote in the Fisher preselection on August 9.
Former party president Chris Moriarty won the right to contest the southern suburbs seat, held by independent MP Bob Such.
The complaint to the commission, a copy of which has been obtained by The Advertiser, outlines evidence of a person allegedly falsifying an enrolment record. The complaint letter says the “integrity of the electoral roll is central to the proper operation of our democracy”.
The commission will investigate a written complaint and, if a case is found, will prosecute under law.
The person at the centre of the allegation was away on business and their spouse declined to comment yesterday, saying any investigation should run its course.

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