The petition is already over 20,000 strong, which means that NSW residents have officially forced a debate on the floor of Parliament this September, putting pressure on the Government and Opposition to take a position on outlawing lies in political ads before next year's state election.
Fewer than one in every ten petitions to the NSW Parliament reach 20,000 signatures so obviously people care about this issue.
It's currently legal to lie in political ads in NSW – and most of Australia. On principle alone, this shouldn't be allowed in our democracy. But with AI-generated deepfakes making it easier than ever to make convincing misinformation, the case for change is even more urgent.
Petition text
To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly,
It is perfectly legal to publish misleading political advertising in NSW, and it shouldn't be.
Truth in political advertising laws have operated successfully in South Australia for forty years, and were recently adopted in the Australian Capital Territory. Across Australia, businesses are already prohibited from misleading and deceptive conduct in trade and commerce, but the same standard has not been applied to politicians.
The vast majority of NSW residents support laws to regulate misleading political advertising, according to polling research by the Australia Institute.
We therefore ask the Legislative Assembly to call on the Government to legislate truth in political advertising laws before the next election.
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