A Catherine King staffer tweeted this picture of John Fitzgibbon's van, which they claim is illegally parked. PICTURE: CHRIS CARPENTER
TALK about dobbing someone in.
We may be six months out from a federal election but already the tit-for-tat has begun between Labor MP Catherine King and her opponent Liberal candidate John Fitzgibbon.
Chris Carpenter, an adviser to Ms King, this afternoon tweeted a photo of Mr Fitzgibbon's parked campaign vehicle with a note that he should follow the road rules.
"Hey @johnnfitzy 'driver must park vehicle to face direction of traffic' Road Rule 208A (1)(a)=$85 fine," Mr Carpenter tweeted.
Mr Fitzgibbon said the tweet was “completely wrong” and that the van was parked on a roadside reserve.
"It wasn't blocking a footpath, it wasn't blocking anything,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.
“I would have thought a staff member would have better things to do with their time.”
Soon after Mr Carpenter's tweet, Ballarat West MP Sharon Knight's adviser Simon Hammersley joined the party, retweeting Mr Carpenter's tweet before following up with a message for the authorities:
"Hi @VictoriaPolice if somebody has been parking illegally will the police check it out if you can show them a photo?"
You know what they say: all's fair in love, war and politics.