Premier Jay Weatherill may have been a notable absence from the stage at a leaders debate in Adelaide on Friday, but he was in the room – sort of.
Vincent Scali arrived at the Convention Centre carrying a life-sized cutout of the premier wearing a fake nose with a peg attached to it.
Mr Scali has signalled his intention to run against Mr Weatherill in the seat of Cheltenham and said he will legally change his name to Hadd Enuf on Monday.
Outside the debate, Mr Scali said the state government “has no money” and older residents of South Australia fear they will have to sell their homes to pay for services.
“They can’t pay their emergency services levy, high council rates, high water rates, high land tax if they’re renting or they’ve got an investment property and high electricity prices,” he told AAP.
“I’m getting people every day saying they are in tears, they can’t afford to put their electricity on anymore.”
The semi-retired real estate businessman and former Palmer Party candidate was last month warned by the Australian Electoral Commission that his van, covered in slogans attacking the premier, breached political advertising regulations.
Mr Scali returned fire by launching a complaint with the commission about the premier’s campaign bus, saying it contravened the requirement that an electoral advertisement on a vehicle must be no bigger than one square metre.
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