No can do: Museum of Australian Democracy’s bizarre ban

Advance executive director Matthew Sheahan says it is extraordinary he wasn’t allowed to enter the gift shop at Old Parliament House because of his No T-shirt.

No campaigner Matthew Sheahan in the shirt he was wearing when refused entry to the Museum of Australian Democracy.

Advance executive director Matthew Sheahan has spoken out after being denied entry to the Museum of Australian Democracy in Canberra on Wednesday because he was told his No campaign T-shirt could cause “offence” just days out from the referendum.

Mr Sheahan – the key organisational figure behind the official No campaign – told The Australian it was “extraordinary” that he was prevented from entering a museum celebrating Australian democracy because his T-shirt could offend people days before a historic national vote.

The slogan printed in clear print against a black background on Mr Sheahan’s T-shirt read: “Vote No to the voice of division.”

While he waited for his how-to-vote cards to be delivered, Mr Sheahan said he wanted to enter the gift-shop area of the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD). “I thought … I might just go in there and have a look around there. They got a little shop at the front, I feel like a bottle of water,” he said.

Under the guidance issued by the Australian Electoral Commission ahead of the October 14 referendum, campaigning is not allowed inside a polling place or within 6m of the entrance of a polling place.

The MoAD told The Australian it provided a “key location” for people to cast their vote and that “all polling booths within the museum are established by the AEC and therefore guided by the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984”.

“Under the Act, campaigning is not allowed inside a polling place or within 6m of the entrance to a polling place – for either the Yes or No campaign … MoAD’s focus remains on respecting visitors’ rights and ensuring their safety,” it said.

But Mr Sheahan explained that he was not seeking to enter a polling place. He wanted to access the gift-shop and was at least 15m away from the part of the building where voting was occurring.

“They can’t lay claim to the fact that it was an AEC regulated space. It was 15m away,” Mr Sheahan said.

“They said, ‘we are not going to let you in because your T-shirt could cause offence’.”

“There was no discussion about the legalities of any Act relating to electoral matters.”

The polling booths at Old Parliament House are located up a flight of stairs leading to the main entrance of the building where the front steps, facade and interiors were damaged after protesters set fire to the doors in December 2021, with the repairs costing about $5.3m.

Mr Sheahan said he initially went into the MoAD gift shop entrance and spent about 30 seconds inside before exiting. He then waited outside the shop for his how-to-vote cards to be delivered but was approached by a facilities manager who told him: “You can’t stand here … and I’m not going to permit you back in.”

“I said, ‘Are you serious? Like you are working at the Australian museum for democracy in the Old Parliament House.

“You’ve actually got images in there of these sorts of things. You are seriously not gonna let me in there. And he said, ‘that’s right’.”

At this time, the No campaign how-to-vote cards were delivered to Mr Sheahan by Kieran Douglas – the divisional director of the Canberra Liberals – who witnessed the exchange.

“I was dropping off flyers to Matt, and he was just waiting under the shade, near the entrance to the gift shop at the Museum of Democracy, not near the polling booth,” Mr Douglas said.

“And the security guard came out and was like, ‘well, you, you can’t stand here.’ And we were both like, ‘what do you mean?’ He was like ‘you can’t stand here and you can’t come inside with an offensive T-shirt on’.”

Mr Sheahan then asked to see a manager to discuss the incident and, in the interim, went to the polling station where he began to hand out how-to-vote cards.

He said the security guard continued to watch him for about 45 minutes.

“I thought, you know what? Bugger this, I’ll go in again,” Mr Sheahan said.

“I was greeted by two or three security guards, four or five staff … and short of being sort of frog-marched out, I just sort of said, OK, I’ll leave it for another day.”

Additional reporting: Rhiannon Down