Former Victorian Liberals boss fined $40,000 over unlawful election ads

The former boss of the Victorian Liberals will pay $40,000 in fines after he fell foul of electoral advertising laws, undermining voters’ rights, a court has found.

The Australian Electoral Commission sued former Victorian Liberals director Sam McQuestin over four advertisements placed in the Geelong Advertiser before the 2022 federal election.

The commission alleged McQuestin, whose full name is Charles David McQuestin, breached electoral laws by not properly declaring the ads came from him and the Liberal Party.

One of the newspaper ads was an alleged full-page attack on sitting Labor MP Libby Coker, while another was a full-page portrait of Liberal candidate for Corangamite Stephanie Asher along with a how-to-vote card.

Both paid political advertisements contained authorisations in small writing towards the bottom of the page. Political advertising laws in Australia require authorisations to be made prominently, legibly and in contrasting text.

McQuestin admitted to the allegations but fought against paying a fine of up to $150,000, which the Electoral Commissioner argued he should cough up for the “intentional” breach.

The ad about Ms Coker was the subject of three complaints to the commission.

Federal Court Justice Michael Hugh O’Bryan on Tuesday ruled McQuestin should pay a total $40,000 in fines, saying the anti-Coker advertisement in particular was a serious failure of the rules.