Groom votes: Federal election in Toowoomba seat explodes as hundreds of signs damaged, defaced by Nazi symbols, slurs

Federal election candidates in a hard-fought regional Queensland seat have slammed the defacement of hundreds of corflutes, with many bearing racial and homophobic slurs and Nazi symbols.

Hundreds of Toowoomba election corflutes have been vandalised with swastikas and homophobic slurs at the weekend as part of a slate of actions candidates have slammed as “abhorrent” and “horrendous”.

Tensions in the once-safe conservative regional Queensland seat of Groom have exploded following a slew of incidents, which threaten to spill into the final week of the campaign ahead of the May 3 election.

Both Labor’s Richard Edwards and independent Kirstie Smolenski reported a spate of defacements across Saturday, with the latter revealing one of her supporters was injured for stopping two young people vandalising his sign with a Nazi symbol.

Other candidates say it is the latest example of what has been described as a nasty campaign, which has included corflutes disappearing en masse and volunteers being abused at polling booths.

Ms Smolenski said her team had reported the incident in Drayton involving her supporter to Toowoomba police.

“He went outside to see what was going on – my sign was zip-tied to his fence and it’s been there for a long time,” she said.

“He heard something going on and went outside to shoo them away and he got whacked – he got hurt.

“He just said they looked like youths in a ute and sped off.”

Vandalism of corflutes, Toowoomba election.

She said a number of her signs had been defaced with swastikas, slamming the anti-social behaviour as not representative of Toowoomba.

“This is not acceptable, it’s a level of aggressiveness and ugliness that I haven’t witnessed before,” she said.

“I’ll be focusing on the things that unite us in a community because that’s what we’re all here for.

“I will always strive to promote what’s best for this community and we are a proud and incredibly successful multicultural community and we need to embrace our togetherness and our unity for all the good things.”

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Mr Edwards said at least 50 of his signs had been removed, destroyed or defaced with homophobic slurs.

“So overnight, what we’ve seen is quite a lot of signs either have the stake snapped, they’ve been cut up, they’ve been defaced with hate speech and profanity,” he said.

“Not the usual type of graffiti that you can attribute to young people having a bit of a laugh, but genuine hate from who knows who has done it.

“So there’s racial slurs, I’ve seen slurs against people in the queer community, there’s the typical phalluses and then various other paraphernalia, I can’t know for certain, but I think I drive past and saw a swastika.

“We have every right to disagree, but we do not have a right to attack each other in such horrendous ways.”

Holt, Greens slam “divisive” behaviour on campaign trail

The Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce's Meet the Candidates forum for Groom at The Oaks Hotel. Independent Suzie Holt and LNP's Garth Hamilton.

Highly-fancied Groom independent Suzie Holt, who is hoping to unseat LNP incumbent Garth Hamilton on May 3, took to social media to slam the defacement of all election signs.

“I am deeply saddened and outraged by the defacement of campaign signs with hateful imagery and slurs,” she wrote.

“This act is not just an attack on the candidates – it is an attack on the values of inclusivity, respect, and democracy that our community holds dear.

“These symbols and slurs are a painful reminder of the harm they represent, and we must stand united against such divisive and destructive behaviour.

“To those responsible for this act: know that your actions only strengthen our resolve to fight for a community where everyone feels safe, valued, and respected.”

Greens candidate Alyce Nelligan said the nastiness of the campaign had been expressed not just with vandalism, but also verbal abuse of her volunteers.

“It is incredibly disappointing to see this escalating from previous elections, no longer is it just defacing signs or stealing, it’s now abuse of volunteers and even violence,” she said.

“This is absolutely unacceptable (and) I hope that all volunteers involved are feeling better.

“We have a responsibility to call this behaviour out — peace must be a pillar of our democracy and everyone safe to vote for and support who they choose.”

Speaking in Queens Park, Toowoomba, for the launch of local Greens campaigns for the 2025 federal election are (from left) Maranoa candidate Elizabeth Johnston, Queensland Senator Larissa Waters and Groom candidate Alyce Nelligan.

Originally published as Groom votes: Federal election in Toowoomba seat explodes as hundreds of signs damaged, defaced by Nazi symbols, slurs