Nazi images, stolen and defaced signs reveal desperate, dirty battles

Even before the election was called, people were caught on camera tearing down the signs of opponents. We look at some of the dirty games being played.

We’ve seen some dirty games played so far in the federal election.

Politics is a notoriously unpredictable business.

But in the cauldron of an election campaign, there is one thing which is as sure as night following day – the use of any manner of sneaky tricks to get ahead.

Even before the election was called last month, the husband of Teal independent Monique Ryan was under fire after footage emerged of him tearing down the signage of Liberal opponent Amelia Hamer, under the belief it was illegally placed.

Both Dr Ryan and her partner apologised for the action, which the Liberals responded to by knocking up cheeky new posters including the line, “Monique, please DO NOT take this sign!”.

A sign for Amelia Hamer kindly asking Monique Ryan to leave them alone. Picture: Twitter/Liberal Party

Another spat over corflutes – which cost as high as $5 for a single poster even when bought in bulk – erupted in the well-heeled electorate of Wentworth last month, escalating to legal threats.

In that brawl, Liberal candidate Ro Knox alleged a poster promoting Wentworth MP Allegra Spender was put up on top of a corflute commemorating a Jewish family killed by Hamas.

Ms Spender fired back that she was considering legal action over the accusations, providing time stamped photographs she said proved that the poster of the family was inserted after her own poster.

In Queensland, Pauline Hanson says her signs are being targeted for destruction right across the country.

She even shared a video, filmed by a supporter, of a man with a mask caught in the act.

Elsewhere, Peter Dutton has been depicted as a Nazi in a shop window alongside former Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and business leaders Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer in German World War II army uniforms.

Fellow Teal independent Zali Steggall has also had her corflutes defaced, with extraordinary footage – captured by home security footage – showing the moment a woman used Chanel lipstick to draw over her posters.

“F---, it was Chanel,” the woman exclaimed after blunting her lipstick while drawing on the poster.

Meanwhile, Andrew Gee, the former Nationals MP for Calare now running as an independent after splitting with the party over The Voice, also blasted “dirty tactics” early in this year’s campaign.

In a Facebook post, he claimed a constituent contacted his office and said they’d been cold-called by someone identifying themselves as a National Party member, “who then told blatant lies about who I was going to preference in this election”.

It was embarrassingly followed by a classic social media gaffe however – with a comment responding to the post and sent from Mr Gee’s own Facebook page stating “I am new to the area” and that Mr Gee’s work had “helped me see who is the good guy!”.

A spokesman for Mr Gee later blamed the comment – seemingly to himself – on a new campaign staffer who had access to the MP’s social media account.

A poster promoting Teal MP Zali Steggall in Mosman after it was vandalised with Chanel lipstick. Picture: Mosman Collective

Another Teal candidate, Nicolette Boele, revealed she had paid volunteers to place her signs on power poles along the Pacific Highway, insisting she was okay to do so despite Ausgrid warning it was illegal.

The ground battle for votes remains costly, time consuming, but overall important, multiple political operatives familiar with campaigning said.

“It’s a pain in the arse when you’ve got to replace (corflutes), it takes manpower, and they do have a cost – they’re not free,” a Labor member who has campaigned for the party at multiple elections said.

Their thoughts were echoed by a Coalition source.

“There’s a financial impact (to destroyed corflutes), they’re not inexpensive to make – there’s a personnel impact, because you have to redirect resources from reaching voters to replacing corflutes – and there’s a psychological impact too, because no one likes to see images of them being defaced,” they said.

Monique Ryan was forced to apologise. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Dr Geoffrey Robinson, a senior lecturer in politics at Deakin University, said volunteers overstepping the boundaries by attempting to get rid of opposition corflutes could often cause more harm than good.

“It’s a drain on resources, (but) it also generates bad publicity,” he said.

“It’s hard to get away with these things these days due to CCTV and mobile phone (cameras).

“Door knocking can be hard work or stressful, so some people seem to prefer to do something silly things like (destroying corflutes) … some people haven’t grown up from student politics.”

Phoebe Hayman, a PhD candidate and sessional academic in politics at La Trobe University, also doubted the effectiveness of dirty tactics.

“It’s higher risk than any benefit you could possibly reap. Corflutes and that election signage provide candidates with visibility, which is integral particularly if you’re not from a major party,” she said.

Originally published as Nazi images, stolen and defaced signs reveal desperate, dirty battles