Rebekha Sharkie volunteer charged with stalking Georgina Downer
A volunteer with GetUp links has been charged with allegedly stalking Lib rival Georgina Downer.
The campaign of Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie has suffered a significant setback with one of her volunteers charged with allegedly stalking her Liberal rival Georgina Downer.
Online Adelaide publication InDaily reported that Paul Bunney, a Centre Alliance member with links to left-wing activist group GetUp, was arrested on Wednesday and bailed to appear in Mount Barker Magistrates Court on May 22.
Police confirmed that a “63-year-old man from Aldgate has been arrested and charged with stalking”.
Mr Bunney’s arrest followed a warning from police earlier this month after he called Ms Downer’s office to complain about the alleged tampering of Ms Sharkie’s election posters.
Interactions between Mr Bunney and Ms Downer, 39, have included him posting her family’s Adelaide Hills address on Facebook, speaking with her at a recent public forum, and “seeing her” in a supermarket carpark on Good Friday.
Mr Bunney said his bail conditions now prevented him from approaching Ms Downer, the daughter of former Liberal leader Alexander Downer, who held Mayo from 1984 to 2008.
“I can’t call her or her office, I’ll not make contact with Georgina Downer, I’ll not approach directly or indirectly with Georgina Downer, I’ll not post any personal details related to Georgina Downer on social media by internet or any electronic means,” Mr Bunney said.
In a statement, Ms Sharkie said: “While everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence, allegations of this nature are extremely serious and this person has been told in clear terms that they cannot be a part of my campaign in any capacity.
“I have zero tolerance for the sort of behaviour alleged, no matter how passionate a supporter may be. Every candidate has the right to feel safe in this campaign.”
On the same day as Mr Bunney’s arrest, Ms Sharkie accused the Liberal Party, which hopes to reclaim the once blue-ribbon South Australian seat that it lost at the 2016 election, of embarking on a “smear and fear campaign”.
Ms Sharkie said she was being portrayed as a Labor patsy and “horrible pictures” of her were being used in campaign material.
“We’re already starting to see, through people’s letterboxes, another smear and fear campaign,” she said.
“It’s really quite disgusting that that happens and it’s something the major parties do, but we run a positive campaign and every time others go low, I go high.”
Ms Sharkie last week called for an investigation after being told Mayo voters had received robocalls purporting to be from her.
The Australian has not heard a recording of the call and the Liberal Party said it was not using robocalls in Mayo, which stretches from the Adelaide Hills in the north to Kangaroo Island in the south.
Ms Sharkie comfortably defeated Ms Downer in a by-election last year that was brought about by the Centre Alliance MP falling foul of citizenship laws.
Ms Downer has drawn top spot on the ballot for the May 18 election, while Ms Sharkie drew the sixth and last position.
“I am grateful that this matter is now in the hands of the police and the courts,” she said in a statement today.
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