‘Dirty tactics’ build intensity during countdown to Qld council election

PRIVATE investigators, blackmail, violent threats and dramatic arrests. Nope, it’s not an episode of House of Cards.

IT’S election time in Queensland and things are getting really out of hand.

There have been threats of violence, the recruitment of private eyes, blackmail and vile racist abuse as electioneering intensifies ahead of the state’s council elections on March 19.

It’s a tight battle of policies and promises in some electorates, but in others, the usual pre-election argy-bargy has reached scary new lows.

Political commentator Paul Williams from Griffith University told news.com.au this was one of the dirtiest electoral contests he’d ever seen.

“Anecdotally there seems to be a big increase in complaints (about campaign tactics),” he said.

“The odd vandalised sign or sign that goes missing is very usual; unfortunate but par for the course. But when you see dozens or hundreds of signs vandalised or stolen, it’s unusual and certainly criminal.

“Even worse still when there’s been allegations — and mutual allegations — of threats of violence or ruined reputations, and that’s much rarer.

“I think if you put all those things together, and they’ve come in one electoral cycle, and it certainly suggests it is one of the dirtiest campaigns we’ve seen in living memory.”

DIRTY ELECTIONEERING

Overnight, the son of a Gold Coast councillor carried out the dramatic citizen’s arrest of a man who allegedly used tomato sauce bottles filled with black paint to draw swastikas on his father’s election signs.

The councillor, Paul Taylor, had previously used hidden cameras and even hired a private investigator to figure out who was defacing his signs, but it was an early-morning stake-out by his son, Darren, that caught the accused vandal.

Paul Taylor’s defaced signs bearing the swastika.

“We approached him and the man said he only had a bottle of sauce on him but he started to run, so I tackled him,” Darren said.

He added: “Some of the stuff led me to feel unsafe for myself, my family and their security, so we had engaged security measures to keep an eye on the signs.”

The man, 58, has been issued with a notice to face court in May on one count of wilful damage.

Wholesale theft and vandalism of election signs has been happening all over the state.

In Brisbane, Greens mayoral contender Ben Pennings’ campaign posters have defaced with violent threats, including symbolism used by neo-nazi groups.

“This threat of violence against me and sabotage of our campaign materials will only strengthen our resolve,” Mr Pennings said in a statement.

‘THIS MAKES ME FEEL A BIT SICK’

But in other fiercely-contested council areas, even grubbier tactics are at play.

The election campaign in Logan, south of Brisbane, has been slammed by one long-time councillor as “the dirtiest he’s ever seen” as claims emerge of harassment and threats against hopeful and incumbent councillors.

Mayoral candidate Luke Smith has publicly accused another councillor, Lisa Bradley, of harassing some of his supporters.

Ms Bradley retaliated by suggesting Mr Smith was just getting back at her for contacting police about alleged threats she received from his supporters.

There is no suggestion Mr Smith was responsible for the alleged conduct by those supporters.

Another candidate in Logan, Kelly Cousins, said she contemplated withdrawing from the campaign due to alleged threats to smear her reputation and destroy her business. Another candidate has had a whopping 400 campaign signs stolen.

Ben Pennings’ signs were tagged with what appears to be a version of the Celtic cross and the number 14, symbols used by many neo-nazi groups.

Amid the drama, long-time Logan councillor Phil Pidgeon delivered some tough words last week.

“Of all my terms in council, this would have to be the grubbiest, dirtiest campaign I’ve ever seen from some people, it’s disgraceful,” he said.

Things have also escalated in Ipswich, southwest of Brisbane, where an independent candidate she says was blackmailed via email by someone claiming to be affiliated with the union movement who warned her not to run in her division.

The email to mother-of-two Cate Carter read, in part: “If you decide to run ... your past will be exposed”.

Ms Carter told the QT newspaper she didn’t know who was behind the anonymous message.

“I have never done anything illegal and I have nothing to hide,” she said.

“All of this makes me feel a bit sick.”

In the Calamvale in Brisbane, Sierra Leone-born criminologist and council candidate Mucktar Wesseh has suffered horrendous racial abuse, including vile threats to his family.

However, there is no suggestion it has come from his political opponents.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN 2016?

Paul Williams, senior lecturer at Griffith University’s school of School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, said the unusually intense scrappiness of this council election might be due to so many council seats being made vacant this year — and the huge wave of political hopefuls desperate to fill them.

“This year we’ve seen, coincidentally, a number of sitting councillors and mayors retiring,” he told news.com.au.

“There’s been quite a high turnover and we’ve got big fields of fresh candidates coming in thinking they're in with a real chance to take seats. In some shires we’ve got up to half the whole council retiring.

“I think there’s a lot at stake and a lot of prizes to be won, and that drives competition into unhealthy bounds.”

Dr Williams also believed local government was becoming increasingly important to people, which was why the stakes seemed higher.

“As Queensland becomes more heavily populated, and there’s a lot of development going on, with each passing term local government is more and more a source of tension with development and anti-development forces,” he said.

“After four years (in one council term), the gloves come off a little more.”

And sadly for political rivals engaged in grubby tactics, Dr Williams said if anything, they’re only driving a wedge between themselves and the people whose votes they’re hoping to win.

“It turns voters off,” he said.

“Research tells us when one side of politics behaves in a scurrilous manner it taints all politicians, not just the group throwing the mud. Voters aren’t very discerning or discriminating in that respect.

“It’s extremely damaging to our democratic ethos because voters start to lose confidence in our system and it discourages them from having a go and getting involved in political processes.

“And if we have further disengagement and lower participation in terms of candidacy, power is shared among an even smaller number of people, and that’s unhealthy.”