Hours before the polls close, Australian voters across the country have received "news alert" texts stating an illegal boat has been intercepted and advising voters to "keep our borders secure by voting Liberal".
The text received by Australian voters. Photo:
The Liberal Party is currently in government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
The ABC has received multiple copies of the texts from voters in the NSW electorates of Hughes, Macquarie, Greenway, Banks, Kingsford Smith, Bennelong, Gilmore Reid, Lindsay and Robertson, as well as the Victorian electorates of Dunkley, Corangamite and Casey.
It reads: "BREAKING: Australian Border Force has intercepted an illegal boat trying to reach Australia. Keep our borders secure by voting Liberal today."
The messages were sent around 2:30pm AEST with a link to a website instructing how to vote for the Liberal Party, containing an authorisation.
- Follow RNZ's live coverage here
It comes after Morrison this morning confirmed an unauthorised vessel from Sri Lanka had been intercepted on its way to Australia.
A party spokesperson confirmed the Liberal Party sent the message.
"As Australians go to vote today it is important that they are informed about the choice that is before them," they said.
Benjamin Moffitt, a senior lecturer in politics at the Australian Catholic University, said the text messages "reeked of desperation".
"I can't think of any time when national security has been used in such a blatant last-minute way," he said.
Dr Moffitt pointed to the 2001 election and the Tampa affair as a possible precedent, when the Howard government's refusal to accept the passengers seeking asylum after being rescued by a Norwegian tanker became pivotal to the campaign.
"But that wasn't sending out mass texts on the last day," he said.
"This is a 2001-2004 tactic, just updated with mass communication."
Gerard Mathews, a voter in Bennelong who also received the SMS, told the ABC he thought the text message was intended to scare voters.
"My first thought was, I didn't think it was from the Liberal Party because it seemed underhanded," he told the ABC.
"I thought the story was completely made up, but then I looked on the web and there it is."
Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP also pointed to the Tampa crisis when approached for comment.
"Anyone who remembers the Tampa crisis knows the Liberals will stoop to any depths to win votes," he said in an emailed statement.
"This looks like a cynical and disgusting stunt, and one final reason people should vote Scott Morrison out today."
A spokesperson for the Australian Electoral Commission said "the website linked in the message is appropriately authorised, which meets our requirements for text messages".
Australian election campaigns have seen other last-minute attempts to sway votes via SMS in the past.
In 2016, Labor's Queensland branch sent out text messages that appeared to be from Medicare as part of a campaign that became known as "Mediscare".
The messages warned that then-Liberal Party leader Malcolm Turnbull planned to privatise Medicare, which the party denied.
- ABC
