Federal election 2022: ‘Just leave me alone’, Lib senator Jane Hume tells Simon Holmes a Court

The Climate 200 backer has clashed with Superannuation Minister Jane Hume in a fiery encounter outside a Melbourne pre-polling booth, the altercation filmed by Josh Frydenberg.

Simon Holmes a Court has been filmed repeatedly ignoring requests to leave Liberal Senator Jane Hume alone at a Melbourne pre-poll.

Climate 200 backer Simon Holmes a Court has clashed with Superannuation Minister Jane Hume in a fiery encounter outside a Melbourne pre-polling booth.

The altercation, filmed by Josh Frydenberg, shows Senator Hume repeatedly asking Mr Holmes a Court to leave her alone. Mr Holmes a Court ignored her request and remained standing in front of her.

“Just leave me alone Simon please leave me alone,” she said. “You are suing me for defamation Simon, I don’t want to talk to you.”

Mr Holmes a Court continued to ignore her pleas, to which Senator Hume said: “Leave me alone Simon, you are the son of Australia’s first billionaire. You are suing me for defamation. Please leave me alone.”

Turning to the Treasurer, Mr Holmes a Court confronts the camera and asks how he is, and whether Mr Frydenberg agreed with her “lies”.

Mr Frydenberg said he agreed with everything Senator Hume said.

The video was posted by the Liberal party to its social media.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said Mr Holmes a Court “should apologise”.

“Simon Holmes a Court is entitled to have his views, he is entitled to spend his millions of dollars as he chooses,” Mr Birmingham told Sky News. “But what he shouldn’t do is be rude or offensive, to disrupt people at polling booths or to get right up in the face of individuals. Frankly, it just was appalling-looking behaviour, and he should apologise for it.”

Mr Frydenberg and his teal independent challenger Dr Monique Ryan also weighed in on the stoush.

The Treasurer told Sky News that the altercation was “an ugly incident”, adding that “it was despicable behaviour from someone who should know better”.

While Mr Frydenberg questioned the integrity of teal independents - who are partially funded by the millionaire - in response to the incident, teal challenger Dr Ryan said: “I don’t think anything he says in a personal capacity reflects in any way on my campaign.”

“Mr Holmes a Court is a private citizen,” Dr Ryan said.

While she said Mr Holmes a Court was a donor to her campaign, she added: “I’ve had more than 3000 individual donors to the campaign. Climate 200, of which he is a convener, has, I understand, eight or nine thousand individual donors.”

Recent polling has put Dr Ryan ahead of the treasurer in the seat.