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Shorten blasts Labor youth in US

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has blasted the "stupid conduct" of a group of young Labor volunteers on a taxpayer funded US trip.

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Source: AAP


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Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has blasted as unacceptable the "stupid" behaviour of a group of young Labor Party members working on a US presidential campaign.

The volunteers were secretly filmed boasting about using Australian taxpayer funds to work on US Democratic senator Bernie Sanders's campaign and interfering with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump campaign signs.

Federal Labor national secretary George Wright is investigating their conduct after conservative undercover campaign group Project Veritas Action posted video of the volunteers online.

"The behaviour which has been reported is completely unacceptable," Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told reporters in Melbourne.

"Stupidity never paints anyone in a good light."

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The four were in the US on the federal government-funded Australian Political Parties Democracy Program, which was established in 2005.

Under the program political parties get access to hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to send party officials overseas to "strengthen democracy internationally".

Mr Shorten hinted Labor may pull out of the program.

"I'm not convinced of the value of this program of sending people overseas, full stop," he said.


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