Police investigating after second video emerges in Kooyong battle

A video has emerged that appears to show the destruction of a corflute sign for Amelia Hamer, after teal MP Monique Ryan was forced to issue an apology following a separate incident in which her husband was caught ripping down a poster of the Liberal candidate.

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Victoria Police are investigating after a second video emerged in the heated battle for Kooyong, which appears to show the destruction of a poster of Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer.

A destroyed Amelia Hamer poster that appears to be located on the fence of the same house in Toorak.

It comes after Monique Ryan, the teal member for the federal electorate, was forced to issue an apology following a separate incident in which her husband was caught ripping down a poster of Ms Hamer, who is Dr Ryan’s rival in the upcoming election.

New CCTV footage from March 7 appears to show two people approaching a poster hanging on the front gate of a house in Toorak, Melbourne, which sits within the seat of Kooyong.

“What’s the most economic way to make this a pain in the arse to take down and also, like, to ­humiliate both of them and …” one person is heard saying before the recording becomes inaudible.

The other person appears to proceed to slice the poster before they walk away.

A separate image provided to The Australian shows a destroyed poster of Ms Hamer, which ­appears to be on the fence of the same house.

A police spokesperson said officers were aware of the incident and were making inquiries.

The March 7 footage emerged on Monday just hours after Dr Ryan was forced to issue an apology after her husband, Peter Jordan, was caught ripping down a poster of Ms Hamer in a separate incident within the electorate.

A video showed Mr Jordan being followed down a street while holding a poster of Ms Hamer. He is heard stating that he had taken the “illegal sign” down because it was “on public land”.

“I apologise for the removal of the sign. It should not have happened,” Dr Ryan said following the video’s emergence.

“All concerns around signage should be reported to council.”

Mr Jordan said: “I unreservedly apologise for removing the sign. It was a mistake. I believed the sign was illegally placed but I should have reported my concerns to council.”

Mr Jordan was condemned by the Liberals, who are hoping to win back the once-safe seat from Dr Ryan at the upcoming election.

“The teals preach integrity in public, but then behave like this when they think no one is looking,” a spokesperson said. “Regretfully this is not the first time we’ve seen this sort of behaviour.

“It’s disappointing that we now need to consider how to best keep our property … safe.”

Liberal senator James Paterson called on Dr Ryan to “front up” and “not just hide behind a one-sentence statement”. He said Mr Jordan’s behaviour was ­“totally inappropriate” and “inexcusable”.

A Monique Ryan election campaign poster is affixed to a bike, then locked to a pole.

Senator Paterson told Sky News it was not the first instance of “bad behaviour” from Dr Ryan’s campaign.

He pointed to a media report from earlier this month concerning an altercation between Dr Ryan and Liberal volunteers and claims dozens of Liberal Party signs in Kooyong had been defaced and stolen.

Fellow Melbourne-based teal independent Zoe Daniel – the member for Goldstein – declined to comment on the incident, as did Anthony Albanese, who said it didn’t have anything to do with the Labor Party.

“I have no idea who Monique Ryan’s husband is,” Prime Minister said.

A spokesperson for the council of Boroondara, where the incident is understood to have taken place, said placing candidate posters on public or council-controlled land was prohibited.

Following Mr Jordan’s protestations about Ms Hamer’s poster being “illegal” in its placement on public land, separate pictures obtained by The Australian appeared to show Dr Ryan’s campaign posters tied to bicycles and then chained to street poles.

A spokesperson for Dr Ryan said she initially received advice from the council that the posters were OK but removed them once she received contrary advice.

Asked whether these signs would also be considered to be placed on public property, a spokesperson for Dr Ryan said all the bikes had been removed.

“We initially received advice from the Stonnington Council that they were fine. We then received contrary advice, so they were all taken down,” the spokesperson said.

“We are currently awaiting formal clarification about electoral signage, which we expect to ­receive after the election has been called.”

The Australian Electoral Commission said it did not regulate the placement of electoral signs, save for the requirement that ­campaign signs cannot be placed within 6m of the entrance to a polling place.

However, it said it was aware of the footage of Mr Jordan and reminded all candidates and campaigners of “the importance of civility” while campaigning in this year’s federal election.