Nicolle Flint claims GetUp, accused stalker ‘worked hand-in-glove’
Liberal MP Nicolle Flint says GetUp and a man accused of stalking her during the 2019 election “worked hand-in-glove” in a deliberate attempt to scare her off campaigning.
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South Australian Liberal MP Nicolle Flint says GetUp! and a man accused of stalking her during this year’s federal election “worked hand-in-glove” in a deliberate attempt to scare her off campaigning.
The Boothby MP has submitted documents to a parliamentary inquiry into the May election campaign that shows social-media links between Clarence Gardens resident Dave Walsh and the activist group.
Her previously redacted submission has now been published in full, showing multiple screenshots of GetUp! Facebook posts that have been “liked” by Mr Walsh.
The document also shows an image of the GetUp! SA Action Network “liking” a page called the City of Mitcham Residents, which he is understood to be linked to.
“The assembled evidence shows that this individual and GetUp! worked hand-in-glove,” Ms Flint wrote in her submission to the parliamentary inquiry.
“Why did they support his Facebook page, why did they repost his posts, including my physical location, why did they not ban him from their site when they knew the South Australian Police had issued him with a stalking order, as this was widely reported in the media,” she said.
Mr Walsh, who received a stalking caution from SA Police in May but was not charged with an offence, has denied he is a member of GetUp!
“I am not, and never have been, a member of GetUp! or any associated group,” Mr Walsh told the Sunday Mail.
He said he shared “similar views” of Ms Flint as “many Mitcham residents” but would not comment further.
A GetUp! spokeswoman said Ms Flint’s claim was “false”.
“The person in question has no connection to GetUp! and was not involved in the election campaign,” the spokeswoman said.
Ms Flint told the inquiry she believed an “aggressive and relentless” campaign by GetUp!, unions and Labor “encouraged extreme behaviour from their sympathisers” and was a deliberate attempt to scare her off campaigning.
She called for them to each conduct an independent review of their behaviour in Boothby.
GetUp! targeted Ms Flint and several other conservative Coalition MPs during the campaign for refusing to tackle the “climate crisis”.
However, it has denied its members were involved in vandalism attacks on her office or election posters.
Ms Flint told the Sunday Mail her submission had been redacted by the Senate to allow individuals included in the document to respond.
Testimonies from multiple GetUp! volunteers in Boothby were included in the group’s submission to the election inquiry.
One volunteer said his fellow campaigners were “always respectful, polite and persistent in seeking Ms Flint’s views on a range of issues”.
They were “horrified at the level of childish attacks on her”.