The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has cleared podcast host Abbie Chatfield of any wrongdoing following her interview with Anthony Albanese on her podcast. The AEC determined that her content did not require an authorisation statement, despite questioning from Liberal senators regarding whether some of her social media content should have been classified as electoral material.

Both Anthony Albanese and Adam Bandt have appeared on Chatfield’s podcast, It’s A Lot, in recent weeks, with clips from the interviews shared on their social media accounts. Chatfield has also encouraged her 532,000 followers to place the Liberal party last on their ballot papers.

In a statement, an AEC spokesperson indicated that while the podcasts could have been viewed as attempts to influence voting, there was no evidence that the podcaster received any monetary benefits from inviting Albanese or Bandt onto the show. The spokesperson also stated that the Commission was not convinced that the podcast episodes were paid advertising or were communicated by or on behalf of a political candidate or party, and thus no authorization was needed.

Furthermore, the spokesperson highlighted that the invitations to Albanese and Bandt to participate in the podcasts were voluntary, and that the questions posed to the interviewees were sourced from the podcast’s audience. There was no evidence that either politician had creative control over the questions asked.

Chatfield addressed concerns about unverified allegations that influencers were being paid to attend the federal budget or post material on social media during her latest podcast episode.

Chatfield was approached for comment on the matter.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/03/abbie-chatfield-aec-investigation-cleared-albanese-bandt-podcast-interviews-ntwnfb