Labor's draft $40 toll cap exposed by mistaken voter text

A market-research firm with strong Labor links accidentally sent a text to a voter containing a video that promotes a suite of Labor policies and reveals a proposed $40 per one outlet cap on road tolls, a measure not yet publicly committed to. The video, part of a survey by Community Engagement, tailors its message based on the respondent’s stated voting intention and includes promises such as a construction-industry royal commission, higher teacher pay, reopening police stations, hiring 1,500 more police, maintaining half-price public transport, and fixing potholes.

It also contains attack ads against the Coalition and One Nation, accusing the latter’s leader Warren Pickering of wanting to criminalise abortion and referencing a former campaign employee convicted of rape. Three government sources said they were unaware of the video, implying it may have been a policy test. The Coalition previously pledged a $50 weekly toll cap, estimated to cost $90 million annually and benefiting Transurban, the operator of CityLink, EastLink and West Gate Tunnel. Labor declined comment, while the pollsters’ owners, Eric Goddard and Ella Hardy, have also worked for New Zealand Labour.