On the eve of the Black by-election, the independent umpire has sensationally ruled Vincent Tarzia and the SA Liberals’ central pitch to voters was a lie, ordering the party to withdraw their misleading material and immediately publish a retraction.

The Electoral Commissioner has found Vincent Tarzia and the SA Liberals lied when they falsely claimed State Government fees and charges have increased by 30 per cent under Labor – which is factually incorrect.

Vincent Tarzia, the SA Liberals and their candidate Amanda Wilson have made the lie central to their pitch to the people of Black, and spread the lie across advertisements on radio, in printed flyers, on corflutes at pre-polling locations and on Instagram, Facebook and X.

The Electoral Commissioner found the Liberals have breached Section 113 of the Electoral Act.

Read the Electoral Commissioner's ruling here.

This comes less than a week after the independent umpire found Vincent Tarzia and the Liberals lied when they falsely claimed the State Government had introduced a “lettuce tax”, which was also factually incorrect.

The Liberals spreading lies about taxes and cost of living has now become a common occurrence during by-elections.

Earlier this year, the Electoral Commission found the Liberals lied during the Dunstan by-election by falsely claiming the government had a new “GP patient tax”.

The Liberals were forced to withdraw the false and misleading material, but only after the Electoral Commission took the extraordinary step of tweeting the Liberal Party in an attempt to get them to respond to the complaint.

Quotes

Attributable to Stephen Mullighan

The SA Liberals’ central pitch to the people of Black has been found to be a lie.

Vincent Tarzia, the SA Liberals and their candidate Amanda Wilson plastered the lie across their election material and in advertisements across radio and social media and now the independent umpire has called them out.

This isn’t a one off, this is now a clear pattern of behaviour from the SA Liberals, where they consistently and regularly lie about cost of living and taxes – and the Electoral Commissioner has regularly ordered them to withdraw and correct the record.

Vincent Tarzia, Amanda Wilson and the SA Liberals’ credibility is in tatters.