Outgoing federal Coalition MP George Christensen spent greater than $20,000 on Fb advertisements in a single week to advertise his private web site and encourage subscribers to affix his electronic mail checklist simply weeks earlier than quitting politics.
Labor has questioned whether or not taxpayers or Christensen personally paid for the advertisements, involved that the retiring MP “seems to be selling his personal web site for his profession after politics”.
Christensen, the member for Dawson in Queensland’s Mackay and Whitsunday area, is not going to recontest his seat on the looming federal election. He gained the seat on an imposing 65-35 two-party margin on the 2019 election, however the 44-year-old introduced final yr he would stop so as to spend extra time together with his household, claiming he had solely ever meant to serve three phrases.
Christensen has not explicitly revealed plans for his post-parliament profession, however is within the means of launching a information web site. The outlet’s webpage describes it as a “populist conservative information aggregation” website, and it'll carry paid promoting. He additionally maintains an everyday electronic mail publication on the Substack platform, and has almost 120,000 followers on Fb.
In January, Christensen advised a web-based occasion “I’m not leaving politics – I’m leaving parliament”.
“I’m going to be within the fray. I used to be a journalist earlier than I used to be in politics … I’ll most likely step again into that sooner or later, not directly, form or kind,” he stated.
In a collection of paid advertisements posted to Fb in late March, Christensen stated he was leaving his place as Dawson MP. Alongside a hyperlink to his “checklist of achievements”, he inspired folks to “keep up a correspondence” by subscribing to an electronic mail checklist on his web site.
“It’s been greater than a decade of supply for Dawson. As I step down as your native consultant, I wish to thanks to your assist,” he wrote.
“Be in contact at www.georgechristensen.com.au/keepintouch”.
The web site asks folks to “fill out the shape to remain related” and suggested that “By clicking ‘SUBMIT’ you conform to obtain correspondence from George Christensen”.
After subscribing to the checklist, the web site encourages customers to learn his Substack publication, in addition to itemizing hyperlinks to 11 of Christensen’s social media profiles together with Fb, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Gab, Parler and Telegram.
Knowledge from Fb’s advert library exhibits Christensen spent $28,275 on Fb advertisements within the 30 days from 2 to 31 March, however the overwhelming majority of that – a complete of $23,425 – within the seven days from 25 to 31 March alone.
The seven “keep up a correspondence” advertisements ran for numerous lengths of time between 26 March and a couple of April.
Fb’s advert knowledge doesn't give actual quantities of spending, solely bands of spending ranges. The device reviews Christensen spent between $17,000 and $20,797 on the advertisements selling his “keep up a correspondence” electronic mail checklist.
Guardian Australia submitted an in depth set of inquiries to Christensen and his workplace on Tuesday, asking whether or not he had used taxpayer funds to pay for the advertisements, what number of electronic mail subscribers he had gained because the advertisements, and what his plans have been for the mailing checklist and web site after his retirement from parliament.
No response was acquired by publication time.
Labor senator Murray Watt questioned Christensen’s spending, and whether or not the advertisements had been financed by the general public.
“George Christensen has a monitor file of spending public cash to push his pet causes,” he advised Guardian Australia.
The unbiased parliamentary bills authority reported in February that Christensen claimed greater than $50,000 for “e-material” over 9 months in 2021, with the spend ramping as much as a mean of $11,000 a month from the center of the yr.
Beneath parliamentary expense guidelines, MPs can declare taxpayer funds for bills for the dominant function of conducting parliamentary enterprise. This contains electoral duties, which have a broad definition prescribed by the minister, together with “facilitating and taking part in debate on issues of curiosity to constituents”.
Since August 2020, Christensen has spent $122,108 on Fb advertisements; probably the most of any particular person federal MP. It's not recognized whether or not the advertisements have been paid for utilizing public or private cash.
Christensen’s information web site seems to be nonetheless in a pre-launch section, however seems primarily based on information aggregation websites like The Drudge Report, with a homepage linking to outdoors information sources.
The homepage at the moment hyperlinks to headlines together with “Might Voter Fraud Swing Australian Elections?”, “George Christensen’s Last Scorching Speech to the Federal Parliament”, “PM should again conservatives or face wipe-out”, and “The Nice Reset: This Is No Path to Happiness”.
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