Malcolm C Jonas, the founder and President of Freedom Party of Victoria, has been identified as having posted partially-authorised election signage by the AEC. Photo: LinkedIn.
The Australian Electoral Commission has warned voters to stop and consider the information they are consuming in the lead-up to Saturday’s federal election after partially authorised corflutes signage was found in eight seats across four states in recent days.
The signage authorised by “M Jonas, Melbourne, VIC 3000” is believed to be from the Freedom Party of Victoria, which was founded by Morgan C Jonas during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in Victoria.
The AEC says the signage allegedly attacks a political party – believed to be The Greens – and Members of Parliament from that party. Mr Jonas’s Instagram page is particularly scathing of The Greens and its leader Adam Bandt, and has recent posts that appear to show copies of the corflute signage with his authorisation at the bottom.
The AEC says the “authorisation particulars are not compliant with the requirements of section 321D of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 because they do not include the individual’s full name and a full street address”.
It further says it has “identified the individual responsible for the corflutes and signs from the partial authorisation, and has obtained an undertaking from Morgan Jonas that he will cease distributing material that is not correctly authorised and will ensure that stickers are placed on all existing corflutes and signs”.
The AEC says it “will continue to monitor compliance with this undertaking and if needed, consider our legal options”.
Mr Jonas runs a website called the MCJ Report, which says it was “created by its founder and host Morgan C Jonas in response to one-sided reporting and state-sanctioned tyranny that transpired in Melbourne, Australia, as a result of the Victorian State Government’s response to COVID-19”.
“Morgan has a background in business, martial arts and supply chain management and is passionate about social justice,” it says. “MCJ Report is independent, without corporate backers and relies on community contributions and product sales.
“MCJ Report endeavours to pick apart deceptive mainstream narratives whilst empowering people with the truth.”
Two images “authorised by M. Jonas” from Morgan Jonas’ Instagram page which appear to represent election advertising. Images: Morgan C Jonas Instagram.
In a 17 February video published on Instagram, Mr Jonas called for five people to stand as independent or Freedom Party candidates in five key marginal seats, but did not name those seats.
“Freedom Party will be supporting only five candidates specifically in lower house seats and specifically only in the marginal seats,” he said. “The reason for this is that we don’t want to spread ourselves too thin across lots of seats throughout the state only to end up leaving no impact.”
In the video, Mr Jonas also said he wouldn’t be standing in the federal election.
“The answer to that question is no, I’m going to sit this one out,” he said. “I think that I’m better positioned to manage, support and run the campaigns of our five key candidates while conserving my energy for the Victoria state election in 2026.”
But the Freedom Party webpage appears to be incomplete, with no information in the ‘‘Our Team’’ tab, and none of its own or any supported candidates listed. Mr Jonas’s Instagram page suggests an alignment with other small parties including One Nation, Family First and various libertarians, and attacks LGBTQI+ and other organisations that have what he describes as “woke” agendas.
The AEC says the corflutes in question have so far been found in the divisions of Chisholm, Hawke, Bendigo and Menzies in Victoria; Calare and Bennelong in NSW; Blair in Queensland; and Boothby in South Australia.
“The AEC is taking this step to raise awareness of the issue,” it says … “noting the number of partially authorised signs displayed across a number of states, the rectification that Mr Jonas has agreed to undertake, and the late stage in the election period.”
