Cory Bernardi has been issued with a cease and desist notice over one of his party’s Facebook posts, which features the man known for spruiking lamb in the lead up to Australia Day, Sam Kekovich, and referring to him as the “lambassador” .
Kekovich, who is known as the face of Meat and Livestock Australia’s (MLA) Australia Day lamb ads, recently endorsed Bernardi’s political party. He appears in a Facebook post that states that “The Lambassador supports Australian Conservatives”.
The MLA – which undertakes marketing and research for the nation’s livestock industry and receives government funding – has claimed Australian Conservatives have no right to use the term “lambassador”.
In a letter to Bernardi, the MLA claimed he had breached MLA’s intellectual property rights, demanded he post a retraction and “forever cease and desist”.
The organisation was forbidden from engaging in political activities as a result of its funding arrangements with the government.
“MLA had no knowledge of Sam’s involvement in the Australian Conservatives campaign and MLA does not in any way endorse the use of ‘Lambassador’ as part of this campaign,” a spokesman said.
“MLA developed and has utilised ‘Lambassador’ as part of its marketing for over 10 years and is disappointed that the term has been used in a political campaign.
“We have sought an immediate retraction of its use.”
The 30-second video featuring Kekovich does not use the term “lambassador”.
Bernardi refused to back down, saying he would not be “rammed into submission”.
“They don’t own the term, it is a generic term, it’s a hybrid of the term ‘lamb’ and ‘ambassador’ and it’s used widely by those people who like lamb,” he told the ABC.
“The MLA are making a number of spurious allegations and trying to ram us into submission and are lambasting us for using a person like Mr Kekovich.”
The Facebook post calls for donations so that a 30-second video ad featuring Kekovich can appear on television.
Bernardi was contacted for comment.
Kekovich, a former Australian rules footballer, has appeared in the MLA’s lamb ads since 2005, causing controversy when he accused vegetarians of being un-Australian.
The MLA said Kekovich was not exclusively contracted to MLA and was “free to express his personal opinion”.
It took issue only with the use of the word “lambassador”.
