Thousands of unauthorised pamphlets claiming to “expose” Teal MP Allegra Spender are under investigation by the electoral watchdog.

More than 47,000 flyers were distributed in the Sydney electorate of Wentworth, held by the Teal independent and the former seat of Malcolm Turnbull.

The producers of the 12-page documents are unknown as the pages were printed without the official authorisation required during an election campaign.

The front page is headlined “Allegra Spender exposed” and inside it claimed Spender had “misled the electorate on her positions”.

The ABC reported that the content accused her of being weak on antisemitism.

It also attacked her stance on indefinite detention and attempted to link Spender to the Labor government, reports the ABC.

The documented stated it was produced “by the people of Wentworth, for the people of Wentworth”.

It shows the logo of printing and distribution company IVE.

But a lack of official authorisation means voters do not know where its information is sourced from, putting the pamphlets in breach of Australia’s main election law.

After receiving complaints about the documents, the Australian Electoral Commission said it had launched an investigation.

The AEC said it was working to identify and contact those responsible, who could face thousands of dollars in fines.

“The AEC takes these matters very seriously,” it said in a statement.

Wentworth was once considered a blue-ribbon Liberal seat, but Spender snatched it off the Coalition at the 2022 election, making it a tightly contested electorate at the May 3 poll.

The independent MP said its contents were “false, misleading and offensive” and urged anyone with information to come forward.

“Australians are asking for people to provide solutions and a vision of the future not to run negative and unlawful smear campaigns,” she told reporters on Monday.

“This is what turns people off politics.

“We must do better.”

Spender was one of the many ‘teal’ independents who took the Liberals by surprise and won their electorates in 2022 by campaigning on climate action and integrity in politics.

-with AAP