Mainstream Media Interviews Roobs

It seems the ABC have gotten a copy of my flyer of the month. And they don't like it.

On Tuesday 18-6-23 I received a phone call by a reporter called Pat McGrath from the ABC, and he was concerned about our flyer of the month - https://roobsflyers.com/flyer-of-the-month

The contention is an image used on the flyer, and because the flyer has not been "authorised". As the referendum is being conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission, they believe my flyers to be electoral material.

Firstly, the image. The image in question is on the obverse side of the flyer, at the bottom, it is in the style of Aboriginal painting and It features Ayers Rock with two kangaroos in front of it, with the words 'VOTE NO' on it. I found this image on Facebook. To me, it looked like a meme. A generic image that somebody had turned into a meme, that everybody is sharing and making their profile pics, etc. I used it because I thought it would look good on the flyer and make a statement. And it does.
The problem is, and I was unaware of this until Tuesday when Pat from the ABC called me, it is an actual painting by an artist named Danny Eastwood, and he's upset that it is being used for this purpose. Ok, fair enough. I wouldn't want my content to be manipulated in a way I didn't like and I apologise to Mr Eastwood if this has caused him any offense. We will not use that image again on any of our material. And besides, there's no lack of other images we can use. All good.

The second issue is the flyer is apparently supposed to be 'authorised' because it is supposedly 'election' material as it pertains to the referendum. I have been now contacted by The Australian Electoral Commission and informed I am in breach of the Electoral Act because it is not authorised.

After being informed of this it is my intention to authorise these flyers. However, I believe I could argue that I am exempt from having to authorise the flyers, on the basis of Schedule 3, Subsection 6 (a) and (b) of the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Act 2023

See the Act here - https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2023A00011

Here's the article from the ABC https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-20/voice-to-parliament-misinformation-flyers/102621334 They didn't use any of the audio from the above video.

They also posted it on their Facebook page here https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid032m5aDdhCvUJ6orJbSbd5XbhC35ov9Q1ezkPrMcwJF5xjjoNu4o8zNoQ1cYBAJZLYl&id=100044138394046&sfnsn=mo&mibextid=RUbZ1f

But they have turned off the comments and deleted quite a few comments that were in support of my flyers.

This message was authorised by S. Chalifour for Roobs Flyers. West Burleigh, Qld, 4219.

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https://roobsflyers.com/