Campaigning for the Australian federal election has seen multiple incidents of vandalism and confrontation.
The latest incident involves the defacing of One Nation candidate signs in the Hunter region, about 200 kilometres north of Sydney.
“All across the country, One Nation candidates are seeing their signs stolen, slashed, and defaced,” she wrote on X, adding, “Hunter is just one example. We are targeted because they know One Nation is winning support where it counts.”
In parallel, the Greens have also reported a wave of attacks on their election material.
Posters of Senator Mehreen Faruqi and Grayndler candidate Hannah Thomas were defaced with swastikas in Sydney suburbs Erskineville and Stanmore.
Another of Faruqi’s signs in Chester Hill in Greater Western Sydney bore an Islamophobic slur suggesting Arabs had killed more Palestinians than Israel.
Faruqi, the party’s deputy leader and anti-racism spokesperson, condemned the incidents.
“The Greens are being targeted by a toxic mix of racists, Islamophobes, and the far right because we are standing up against Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” she said.
Violence Reaches the Ground
Another incident was recorded at a pre-polling station in Macquarie Park, within the marginal seat of Bennelong.A 30-year-old man was filmed kicking and throwing Liberal Party signs outside a pre-polling booth around 11 a.m. on April 22.
He was also seen knocking over corflutes and hurling one at a volunteer wearing Liberal Party clothing.
NSW Police confirmed the was arrested shortly after the incident and charged with intimidation. He was granted bail and is scheduled to appear at Burwood Local Court on June 2.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned the incidents.
“This is an escalation of the attacks that we’ve seen. We’ve been talking about this. We’ve got to dial this down,” he said earlier.
