Premier Jeremy Rockliff has pledged not to use text messages for campaign communication during the Tasmanian election, criticising other political parties for the practice.
The commitment comes amid growing voter frustration with unsolicited political messages.
“I won’t be sending Tasmanians spam text messages this election. Neither will any of my team,” Rockliff said.
“Tasmanians are sick of the political games. They just want action.”
The Premier acknowledged his reluctance about the election timing but said respect for voters’ privacy during the campaign period was crucial.
“While I did not want an election, we’re here now, and Tasmanians deserve for their privacy to be respected,” he said.
Political text messages remain legal under Australian communications regulations.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority says political messaging is exempt from most spam and telemarketing rules that apply to commercial communications.
Under current regulations, political messages are not classified as commercial content, meaning senders do not require permission to distribute them and are not obligated to include unsubscribe options.
However, the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 does require all political messaging to include proper authorisation statements identifying the sender.
