Disabled parking spot furore erupts in key election battle ground
An Independent candidate vying for South Australia’s most marginal seat is making news for all the wrong reasons.
NewsWire
Don't miss out on the headlines from NewsWire. Followed categories will be added to My News.
With only days to go before polling day, an Independent candidate in one of South Australia’s most marginal federal seats is in hot water over a disabled parking space.
Boothby candidate Jo Dyer has been accused of parking her pink campaign van, emblazoned with her face and name, in a disabled parking space outside a crucial polling booth.
As reported by The Advertiser, Ms Dyer was photographed rushing around her van parked in a disabled space outside a polling booth in Daw Park.
However, the Independent candidate has rubbished claims she was “parked” and insisted she has paused only to drop off some campaigning materials to a volunteer.
“It’s really not a story. I was not parked. I was there for 40 seconds, the engine was still on and the keys were in the ignition. It’s ludicrous,” she told The Advertiser.
“This is a Liberal volunteer trying to make a headline, it’s just ridiculous.”
Ms Dyer said other candidates would corroborate her version of events, which occurred because there is no drop-off space at the polling booth to allow her to pause and continue on.
The outgoing director of Adelaide writers’ week is fighting for a voice in the Adelaide seat of Boothby, which is the most marginal seat in South Australia with a margin of just 1.4 per cent. The hotly contested seat has been a Liberal stronghold for 73 years, but polling suggests that could all change on Saturday.
Ms Dyer is up against Liberal candidate Rachel Swift and Labor opponent Louise Miller-Frost for the battleground seat.
This is not the first controversy to interrupt Ms Dyer’s campaign, after a dual citizenship scare nearly derailed her political bid in the initial stages. There were delays in renouncing her British citizenship due to Covid, but the necessary proof cleared the Independent to run.
Prior to her decision to contest the state’s most marginal seat, Ms Dyer was also vocal as an advocate for the deceased woman who brought sexual assault allegations against former Attorney-General Christian Porter.
Ms Dyer told The Advertiser she would be “disappointed” if the disabled parking spot allegations were weaponised in the media. She will continue to campaign throughout the Boothby electorate in the crucial last week of the election.
Originally published as Disabled parking spot furore erupts in key election battle ground