'Kerryn Phelps has AIDS': Bizarre smear email claims by-election frontrunner has HIV and has already quit the race for Wentworth

  • Smear email falsely claimed that Kerryn Phelps had contracted AIDS
  • Dr Phelps said the hoax email was 'next level' on the scale of 'dirty tricks' 
  • A recipient who reported the email said the smear 'smacks of male misogyny'

By Aidan Wondracz For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 06:32 EDT, 17 October 2018 | Updated: 06:36 EDT, 17 October 2018

A bizarre smear email has falsely claimed that Dr Kerryn Phelps contracted AIDS and that the frontrunner subsequently pulled out of the Wentworth by-election.

The ABC managed to get its hands on the email that was sent to hundreds of constituents and organisations.

The fake email urged recipients to redirect their vote to Liberal candidate Dave Sharma.

Dr Kerryn Phelps: 'When I went into this campaign people warned me that there would be dirty tricks, but this is next level'

Dr Kerryn Phelps: 'When I went into this campaign people warned me that there would be dirty tricks, but this is next level'

The culprit behind the hoax email is still unknown, and the Daily Mail makes no suggestion that Mr Sharma or anyone involved in his campaign is the sender. 

Regardless, Dr Phelps branded it a 'dirty trick'.

'When I went into this campaign people warned me that there would be dirty tricks, but this is next level,' she said. 

Of the suite of recipients to receive the email, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) emeritus John Daily was one of them.

He reported the 'poisonous' email to the university and Dr Phelps.

'The link between professor Phelps and a particular medical condition, I think it smacks of misogyny,' he said.

An ensuing investigation into the identity of the email account narrowed the IP address to Australia Sydney Vocus Communications Group. 

A Vocus spokesperon said the email could have been sent from any of its half a million Dodo and iPrimus email accounts. 

The fake email urged recipients to redirect their vote to Liberal candidate Dave Sharma

The fake email urged recipients to redirect their vote to Liberal candidate Dave Sharma

Hoax email aside, Dr Phelps noted the tactics to sabotage her bid for the seat did not stop there.

She said there had been misleading advertisements and 'flying squads' that removed her campaign posters. 

'I've been alleged to have been a Liberal plant, I've been alleged to have all sorts of motivations for standing other than the real motivation, which is caring about the future of Australia.' 

A spokesperson for Mr Sharma said the candidate did not wish to comment. 

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Smear email falsely claimed Wentworth by-election frontrunner Kerryn Phelps had contracted AIDS

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