One Nation’s Leader Pauline Hanson, Chief of Staff James Ashby, and Farrer candidate David Farley have all issued apologies to Liberal Senator James Paterson after a clash with a volunteer.
The incident occurred at the Victorian town of Albury in the electorate of Farrer, which is up for a by-election this weekend.
Tensions came to the fore in the traditionally Liberal Party stronghold—held by ousted Opposition Leader Sussan Ley—in a confrontation between Paterson and a One Nation volunteer.
In the interaction, captured on video and posted online, the elder volunteer started off praising Paterson and fellow Liberal MP Andrew Hastie for standing up to the Labor Party.
However, he took issue with the Liberal’s campaign, which focused on Farley’s previous membership with Labor.
The volunteer accused the Liberals of being “scared,” and grabbed Paterson’s mobile phone as the senator had been filming him during the entire interaction.
Paterson then accused the man of assault, to which the man replied he had never assaulted anyone in his life and that he refused to be filmed.
The senator stated he was free to film as it was a public setting.
Not long after, One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson issued an apology over the incident, saying she had directed her party’s volunteers to cooperate with police in case of any investigation.
Candidate Farley contacted Paterson and also apologised on social media.
“I was made aware of an incident which occurred at a polling booth in Albury … involving a volunteer for my campaign, and an elected senator of the Liberal Party who I have personally spoken with to ensure he is ok,” he said.
“I want to reaffirm my commitment to respectful behaviour and inclusive participation in our democratic process.
“I condemn in the strongest terms aggression of any form on the campaign trail, and I will not hesitate to act when made aware of bad behaviour.”
Ashby also spoke to media where he said he did not condone aggression, but also believed Paterson should be held to account.
“He went into that rage-baiting, he was the one looking for a blue, he was the one holding that camera,” he told Sky News Australia.
“James Paterson needs a kick up the backside for this, because you have got a bloke who is on $300,000 dollars a year deliberately rage-baiting a pensioner.”
Debate Started Over Sign, Says Senator
Senator Paterson told Sky News the incident occurred over political signage at the site.
“I’m grateful for Pauline Hanson’s apology, that’s very gracious of her and James Ashby and David Farley the One Nation candidate both called me this afternoon to personally apologise and to say that the volunteer in question will not be returning to the booths,” he said.
“I mean this all started over a National Party sign on the booth that talked about David Farley’s record of being a member of the Labor Party who sought Labor Party pre-selection and donated to the Labor Party and in my view, those are facts which the voters of Farrer deserve to know before they make their choice about whether or not he would be a good representative for them.”
Paterson said he would not press charges.
“And I think that One Nation has to accept, as we all do in public life, that legitimate public scrutiny of our record is part of standing for public office,” he said.
The Liberal senator then accused the party of being “under pressure” in the electorate, claiming Farley had links to the climate-focused “teal” political movement and might “easily” join the crossbench if elected.
Paterson, however, conceded that Farley had appeared to be a popular candidate at the outset of the election.
Disconnect Between Elites and Average Folk: Think Tank
Australian Institute of Progress Executive Director Graham Young described the spat as “undignified all round” and that the general rule on polling booths was not to pick fights.
“In this case, from Senator Paterson’s video, the exchange started off fairly civilly, but quickly deteriorated into him persistently needling the worker while recording the conversation,” he told The Epoch Times.
“I don’t think it is normal to record conversations, so that suggests Paterson thought something was going to happen or he was going to get an admission from the worker about Farley’s previous membership of the Labor Party.
“The booth worker certainly thought he was being set-up, which was when the ‘assault’ occurred.”
Young said the booth worker should have walked away, but also noted it was not an equal contest between an elected official and an average Aussie.
“While I don’t think it achieved what Paterson wanted, it allowed Farley and Hanson to show they were reasonable and decent people, and it would have played into the narrative that the inner city elites are out to get the rest of us,” he said.
The Farrer by-election is being contested by a total of 12 candidates, with recent Ucomms polling showing 30.9 percent support for One Nation, 30 percent support for independent Michelle Milthorpe and 16.1 percent support for the Liberals.
The Epoch Times contacted Ucomms for additional information on polling results in Farrer.
Pollster Anthony Green previously remarked that the electorate would be a “very messy by-election” for the Liberals, with a result he predicted would come down to a “conservative slugfest.”
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