Fists fly as Australian election heats up

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

Perilous Times

Fists fly as Australian election heats up

Party members desperate for votes in one of Australia’s closest ever elections have resorted to taking their frustrations out on each other as political passion spills into violence.
 

By Bonnie Malkin, Sydney
Published: 1:07PM BST 18 Aug 2010

Fists fly as Australian election heats up

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (left) and opposition leader Tony Abbott Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

While party leaders Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott slug it out over policy detail in orderly press conferences, campaign staff have come to blows on the streets of some of the most marginal seats in the country.

Since the Australian campaign began almost five weeks ago there have been at least four alleged incidents of assault involving candidates or their team members. Complaints over attacks and intimidation have become so numerous that Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott have intervened, calling for both sides to “behave”.

With just three days to go until the election on Aug 21, the most recent polls have put the Labour government on 51 per cent to the Liberal-National Coalition’s 48 per cent, a narrow margin in a campaign that has often placed the rivals neck-and-neck.

As the race has tightened, the fists have been flying in Queensland, where the government is trying to hang on to 17 marginal seats.

In one case of election-related violence, a Liberal-National Party volunteer lashed out at a Labour campaign staffer who had been following Wyatt Roy, a 20-year-old Coalition candidate, dressed as a large L-plate bearing the words “Don’t risk him”. The Liberals blamed Labour for starting the fight by sending a “shock squad” to disrupt Mr Roy’s campaigning.

In the marginal seat of Dawson on the Queensland coast, Labour candidate Mike Brunker has been accused of getting into a punch-up with Cyril Vains, the elderly president of a local racing club. Mr Vains suffered cuts and bruises after allegedly being hit by Mr Brunker during an argument over the disappearance of campaign signs, but the politician has claimed that he was acting in self defence.

John Warhurst, a political analyst at the Australian National University, said that incidents of violence on the campaign trail were high because the race was so tight.

“People do get angry when their advertising materials are torn down or there’s an argument between rival parties over who gets the best spot outside a supermarket,” he said.

“It is competitive and tempers do get frayed when you’re tired and fighting a difficult election.”