A senior federal government MP has been accused of ripping off an advertisement used by new South Australian Labor Premier Peter Malinauskas during his successful election campaign.
The South Australian Labor Party has accused Liberal minister Michael Sukkar of "plagiarising almost word for word" the ad used by the-then opposition leader and now Premier.
Mr Sukkar's ad contains multiple similarities to the one released by Mr Malinauskas earlier this year.
Both ads feature still photos of the MPs with their families against white backgrounds, include camera shutter noises as each photo changes and use similar language.
Mr Malinauskas's ad starts: "I'm a husband, a father of three, a weekend gardener, a pretty average footy player, and leader of the South Australian Labour Party."
Mr Sukkar's ad opens with: "I'm a husband, a father of two boys, an amateur cook, sporting enthusiast and Federal Member for Deakin."
"I'm Peter Malinauskas. Here in South Australia, every generation has benefited from the one before," the SA Labor leader states in his ad.
"I'm Michael Sukkar and I believe that every generation should benefit from the one before," the federal Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Housing states.
Both MPs reflect on their family's journeys in the ads.
"My grandparents left war-torn Europe in the forties in search of a better life for our family and my parents worked tirelessly to teach me the value of hard work," Mr Malinauskas says.
"My father came to Australia from Lebanon for a better life and he and my mum worked tirelessly to teach me and my siblings the value of hard work," Mr Sukkar says.
SA Labor state secretary Aemon Bourke reflected on the words of Oscar Wilde.
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Although, you'd have hoped the Victorian Liberal MP would be more interested in copying Labor's commitment and policy to strengthen Medicare," Mr Bourke said.
The federal Liberal Party has been contacted for comment.
Peter Malinauskas's ad was developed by the Simple Advertising agency, which has offices in Adelaide and Melbourne.
Managing director of Simple David Stocker said: "I'm flattered by the impact our ad continues to have."
