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A controversial Labor advertisement which has provoked accusations of racism was sent to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's office for approval, but was not dumped before going to air in Queensland.
- Ad was sent to Bill Shorten's office before being broadcast, ABC understands
- Labor accused of trying to appeal to One Nation voters
- Mr Shorten admits there was an insufficient amount of diversity
In the video, Mr Shorten promises to "employ Australians first", delivering the message while standing next to a group of mostly Anglo-Saxon Australians.
The ABC understands the advertisement went to Mr Shorten's office before it was broadcast. Some concerns were raised, but it was not clear whether those related to a lack of diversity in the video.
It has been slammed by Labor and Government MPs and Mr Shorten would not say whether he or anyone in his office viewed the advertisement before it was broadcast.
"I've said on social media that whilst I'm not in the ad business, when people pointed out that there was an insufficient amount of diversity I think people are right," Mr Shorten said on Monday night.
"So, I've said fair cop, I think in future the execution of these ads needs to be done a lot more carefully and I've had that discussion with the party administration already."
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese has criticised the advertisement, saying it was a "shocker" that should never have been produced.
Mr Shorten would not say why the video was only broadcast in Queensland and did not respond to claims from Government MPs it was designed to appeal to Pauline Hanson's One Nation voters.
"Whilst the issue's the right issue, rorts in the visa system, the fact that under the Liberals 130,000 apprenticeships have disappeared, the fact that under the Liberals we've seen TAFE funding smashed, I have the view that the ad was not properly and finely executed," he said.
"The party administration has taken that view on board and I'm sure that there'll be better oversight in the future."
Government frontbencher Arthur Sinodinos said Labor was trying to appeal to voters who might be considering switching allegiances to One Nation.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, political-parties, alp, information-and-communication, advertising, australia