Race for Gaven heats up in ugly campaign with signs stolen and defaced and accusations flying

THE poll in the Hinterland seat of Gaven is heating up with signs being stolen and defaced along with accusations being traded at polling booths.

Election signs in Gaven continue to be defaced in the lead-up to Saturday's poll. Sitting member Alex Douglas's face has been cut out of these signs at Nerang.

THE poll in the Hinterland seat of Gaven is heating up with signs being stolen and defaced along with accusations being traded at polling booths.

Gaven Independent MP Alex Douglas estimated he has had at least 40 signs stolen from pre-polling booths.

The signage dispute has turned into a farce after a stolen sign featuring a headshot of Dr Douglas was replaced by two others on a property fence.

A third poster which had the written words “Will they steal these too?” was placed between the official signs.

Those two replacement signs were eventually stolen and someone wrote “Yes” under the written poster.

Dr Douglas’s headshot was also cut out of roadside signs at Nerang.

“The Liberals are trying to intimidate me. They don’t touch the Labor signs,” Dr Douglas told the Bulletin.

Election signs have become targets in an increasingly ugly campaign.

He said his wife Susie, a ­former Gold Coast city councillor, was at a pre-polling booth when LNP candidate Sid Cramp and other conservative booth workers indicated a vote the sitting MP would support bikies.

But Mr Cramp said the LNP tactic was to warn voters that Dr Douglas had preferenced Labor and the Greens and both parties supported watered-down bikie laws.

“We did it for one day. Alex has changed preferences and we want people to know that. A vote for Alex is a vote for Labor. A vote for Labor is supporting the bikies,” Mr Cramp said.

“We’ve had at least 20 signs going missing. Like Alex, we’ve got at least a dozen signs in the van that have been defaced.

“Some are funny, some are derogatory. I don’t take it seriously. People in Gaven just want to see sound and stable representation.”

Labor candidate Michael Riordan who has witnessed the robust campaigning confirmed electioneering was heating up in the Hinterland seat, particularly in pockets like Nerang.

“It’s turned a bit nasty down there. It’s a bit unfortunate. I think the campaigning should be civil,” Mr Riordan said.