Labor's 'Mediscare' advertising campaign is being credited as a major reason why Bill Shorten has gotten within walking distance of The Lodge, but a more accurate description of it could be 'Mediscam'.
The alarmist campaign draws on the Coalition's historical ambivalence towards Medicare, playing on public fear that privatising the payment service could erode Australians' access to universal health care.
If this were the case, I wouldn't blame Labor for going down this path as it has proven effective in the past and health care anxiety can swing votes.
However, the claims are misleading in several ways. For starters, the government hasn't unveiled plans to privatise the service but has set up a task force to look at how parts of it can be streamlined. Secondly, even if data and billing or other parts of Medicare were outsourced, this doesn't mean there will be changes to access.
If a business made similarly shonky claims in a TV commercial, it could face scrutiny by the Australian Standards Board and the ACCC. But for election ads, there's no watchdog or industry body that will test political claims.
This leaves it up to the interpretation of journalists, political opponents and the public to decipher fact from fiction. The ABC's excellent Fact Check department closed at the end of this election campaign, removing another valuable layer of scrutiny.
Negativity is fine
To be clear, I'm not having a go at negative marketing or attack ads in politics, which are tried, tested and effective ways to get your message across. I just don't believe campaigns should be built on a foundation of lies. People should not be conned into voting a particular way as this tarnishes the democratic process and treats constituents as mugs.
This smokes and mirrors approach was widely use by Brexit's Vote Leave campaign, which fed the public outrageous lies and misinformation to generate fear while stoking existing anxieties about immigrants and creaking public services. The end result was a polarised electorate with many who were misinformed or confused about what they were voting for, leading to many cases of 'Bregret' in the days after.
If a business makes a spurious marketing claims to sell a good or service, it could face charges of fraud. It's time politicians were given similar checks and balances in election advertising, there is far too much at stake.
Disclaimer: I voted for Labor, in case you were wondering.