Homeowner’s revenge after Liberal election sign stuck to fence

A homeowner has thought of a creative, and none too flattering, way to get back at a Liberal candidate for attaching a sign to their fence without asking.

Ranj Perera election sign. Picture: Reddit / jerjergege

An annoyed Melbourne resident has thought of a creative way to get revenge after an election sign was fixed to their property’s boundary fence without permission.

The anonymous homeowner, who goes by the username “jerjergege” on Reddit, shared a photo of a large sign of Ranj Perera, the Liberal candidate for Holt in Melbourne’s southeast suburbs, drilled to a paling fence on Wednesday.

The sign was on the exterior side of the Reddit user’s boundary fence, but they said they had paid for the whole fence as they lived next to vacant private land that had not been built on yet.

Ranj Perera’s election sign, which as now been removed. Picture: Reddit / jerjergege

They claimed to have received permission from the local council to remove the sign and had also complained to Mr Perera, who had apologised and arranged for it to be removed, which was done by Thursday evening.

But that wasn’t before the homeowner made some adjustments to the sign, adding their own poster.

Ranj Perera (right) campaigning for the Liberal’s Jason Wood in 2019. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian.

“Ranj and the Libs put a sign on my fence illegally and without my permission,” a piece of paper stuck next to Mr Perera’s face read.

The label also contained a QR code with a link to an article from February last year on the satirical news site The Chaser, titled “A complete list of the Liberal Party’s corruption over the last 7 years.” There was 124 dot points.

The homeowner was also annoyed about the four holes made in his fence by the screws holding the sign in place.

The homeowner stuck a poster next to Mr Perera’s head on the sign before it was removed. Picture: Reddit / jerjergege

Labor’s Anthony Byrne has held the seat of Holt, named after former Prime Minister Harold Holt, since 1999.

The longstanding MP will retire from federal politics at the upcoming election. There are eight candidates, including Mr Perera, vying for his spot.

Mr Perera did not respond to questions from news.com.au.

City of Casey council planning and building manager Duncan Turner said political candidates were required to seek permission from landowners before attaching political signage on private property.

“Where permission is given by a landowner, election signs erected on a private property do not require a planning permit from council, provided there is only one sign displayed, the sign is no bigger than 5 square metres, it is not lit and it must not be displayed longer than 14 days after the election date,” he said.

“Council would only become involved if there was a breach of council’s planning controls, for example, if the sign was displayed longer than three months or more than 14 days after the election.”

Election signage has been a talking point in Victoria recently, especially after Bayside City Council banned residents from putting up political signs in their front yards before the election was officially called.

Goldstein independent candidate Zoe Daniel’s campaign manager Keith Badger took the council to the Supreme Court of Victoria and won, confirming it was allowed for signs to be displayed on private property for up to three months prior and no longer than 14 days after an election.