The Liberal Party has turned to what has been called "grubby" attack ads in a final push to beat independent Helen Haines in Saturday's election.
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In a mail drop to letterboxes across Indi, the party has pointed to comments made by Dr Haines at election forums over the past month.
They refer to her supporting Labor's taxes on self-funded retirees, negative gearing policy and not declaring which side of politics she would side with in the event of a hung Parliament.
But Dr Haines said the claims were not true and described the mail-outs as "grubby" and "the same old tricks from the Liberal Party".
"The voters of Indi deserve better than the barrage of attack ads and false claims in their letterboxes they've been getting this election," she said.
She turned the criticism back on the Liberal's Indi candidate Steve Martin, saying it was a shame he did not choose to run a positive campaign.
"I think these attack flyers and ads go to a question of character," Dr Haines said.
"Mr Martin has tried hard to position himself as a different sort of Liberal candidate.
"But what you get from the major parties is always the same, particularly in the last weeks of a campaign: desperate, negative attacks and a never-ending stream of junk mail."
Mr Martin denied the mail-out was a smear campaign, saying it was important that voters knew that Dr Haines was not the same person as retiring Indi MP Cathy McGowan.
"There is nothing personal about it, it's all about policy," he said.
"It is very, very important that people know the choice they're facing on Saturday."
He said the majority of his and the Liberal Party's campaign in Indi had been about positive messages.
The mail-outs were authorised by the Liberals' Victorian headquarters and printed in Melbourne.
Dr Haines also clarified her position on Labor's proposed retiree tax, saying she did not support it and would fight to cap credit refunds at $15,000 per year.
It is not only the Liberal Party sending out negative advertising about Dr Haines.
Advance Australia, the same conservative lobby group that sent Captain GetUp to Wangaratta this week, has been using social media to claim "a vote for Helen is a vote for Bill Shorten and a win for GetUp".
The sponsored advertisement on Instagram uses an old 2017 article from The Australian linking the Labor Party to left-wing lobby group GetUp.
Dr Haines told a recent forum hosted by The Border Mail that she was not funded by GetUp and had no connection to the group.
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