Sussan Ley says Liberals not running No campaign as mass distribution of text messages questioned
Australians receiving text messages from the No campaign are being sent a link to sign up for a postal vote in the upcoming referendum that directs them to a Liberal Party website. 
The text message received by Australians appears to be from Northern Territory senator and No campaign leader Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. 
It says: "Hi, it's Jacinta Price. The Referendum is on 14 Oct. This Voice is risky, unknown and divisive. Don't Know? Say no. For a postal vote go to: (link)." 
The link to the postal vote takes you to a website authorised by the federal director of the Liberal Party, Andrew Hirst, where it then asks for personal contact details. 
Once you provide your address, email and phone number you are then asked to submit them where this prompt appears: "By clicking submit below, you will be providing this information to the Liberal Party of Australia and the Nationals, who will contact you regarding the referendum. You will now be redirected to the Australian Electoral Commission website."
When asked if the text messages were misleading, Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley told the ABC that the texts from Senator Nampijinpa Price were a normal part of campaigning. 
"We've always been involved in distributing postal votes — both sides of politics have," she said. 
"Whenever people say to me, 'The Yes campaign said this or the No campaign said that,' I simply say, those are matters for those campaigns to defend."
Despite the No camp text message linking to a Liberal Party website, Ms Ley said her party was not running its campaign. 
Political marketing expert Andrew Hughes said despite the political mass text messaging being annoying to some Australians, they were legal to send as the communications lay outside of the Spam and Privacy Act. 
"Political parties are exempt from do-not-call registers, from nearly every piece of legislation you can think of," he said. 
"Most people will say to opt in or opt out of communications. Political parties don't have the same rules."
Mr Hughes said parties were able to obtain contact details from marketing databases so people were able to receive the messages even if they had not provided their contact details to that particular party. 
Today, on the final parliamentary sitting day before the referendum, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was still confident Australia would vote Yes.
He joined Indigenous AFL legend Michael Long for the final leg of his walk from Melbourne to Canberra in support of the proposed constitutional change.
The prime minister was asked about recent allegations that the No campaign had been using misinformation to sway voters, after he avoided direct questioning over comments made by Indigenous academic Marcia Langton in Question Time on Wednesday.
He said the debate should return to the facts at the heart of the referendum question.
"Fear is a powerful emotion, but it's not one that advances a country," Mr Albanese said. 
"What advances a country is bringing people together and a positive message.
"I want a positive message to be out there so I'm not interested in equal misinformation." 
The ABC reported earlier in the week that No campaign cold callers were being trained to not identify themselves as being from the No camp to avoid "scaring people".
Ms Ley said with four weeks until Australians head to the polls, details surrounding the Voice were still unclear 
"The prime minister is yet to show the leadership that we need, both in this parliament and in this community," she said.
"We absolutely need those answers so Australians can make informed decisions." 
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
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