Labor refuses NDIS demand to remove logo from campaign material

The law firm also wrote that it was “deeply concerning” that the agency would leak correspondence to the media.

The government’s handling of the $30 billion insurance scheme is a key election issue and one of Labor’s core points of policy difference from the Coalition. The opposition has promised a root-and-branch review of the NDIS, which was one of the previous Labor government’s major reforms but which it now says is failing its clients.

Coalition minister Jane Hume says the NDIS is not a “political football”.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Led by disability services spokesman Bill Shorten, Labor has accused the government of wasting money paying private consulting firms to make decisions on service plans for disabled people as some vulnerable people are denied help.

The Coalition’s campaign spokeswoman, Senator Jane Hume, said Labor’s refusal to agree to the agency’s request to remove the branding was “contemptible”.

“The NDIS is not a political football. It is a vital service provider for some of our most vulnerable. Playing these sorts of games is despicable, and Labor should stop immediately,” she said.

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An NDIA spokeswoman said it was inappropriate for a political party to use the NDIS logo – “particularly alongside a political party logo” – and monitoring the trademarked logo was a requirement under the Trade Marks Act. There is no evidence of Labor candidates other than Brindle using the NDIS logo.

“This is to ensure the NDIS is not seen to be aligned with any political organisation – which is especially important whilst managing caretaker obligations once a general federal election has been called,” the spokeswoman said.

The Liberal Party holds the seat of Casey by 4.6 per cent, but the retirement of Smith, a popular member and former speaker of the House of Representatives, has given Labor hope it can win.

Robbie Beaton.

Meanwhile, Robbie Beaton, the Liberal Party candidate for the Labor-held seat of Isaacs was on Friday referred to federal police over potential election fraud.

Beaton listed his voting address as a pub in Aspendale, which is in the south-eastern suburban seat. He owned the pub until last year and claimed he used to spend some nights in a bedroom there.

After initially claiming he still lived in the pub, he later explained he had not spent a night there since October and lives 20 kilometres away in Camberwell.

Labor this week asked the AEC to investigate Beaton’s nomination. On Friday, the AEC said it was “[concerned] as to whether the information provided by him regarding his residential address on these forms is false” and the matter had been sent to the Australian Federal Police.

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