By Parker McKenzie
Candidates for the seat of Aston are seeing widespread vandalism and destruction of political signage, with allegations of dirty tricks and the flouting of council rules made towards one political party.
Corflute signage has been damaged with graffiti, torn down and replaced or removed around the electorate during the lead up to the 21 May federal election.
Labor candidate for Aston Mary Doyle said members of the community — not just Labor supporters — are becoming frustrated by the removal and damaging of signage.
“At the Tim Neville Arboretum, which is in Ferntree Gully on Dorset Road, there was my sign, a Greens party sign and the Liberal MP Alan Tudge’s too and then they were all gone, with 28 UAP signs up in their place overnight,” she said.
“One lady actually had her sign taken off her property and replaced with a UAP one.”
Ms Doyle said she was hesitant to keep replacing the signage because of the cost involved.
Photos from before and after the alleged incident show the signs of other candidates having been replaced with dozens of UAP signs on the fence line of Dobson Park Reserve, across the road from Tim Neville Arboretum.
Knox City Council’s election signage on council land requirements states a candidate can only have one sign per site.
Currently — as of 4 April — across the road from the Tim Neville Arboretum, a single sign for Mr Tudge, Ms Doyle and Greens candidate Asher Cookson are on display, alongside six United Australia Party signs, which do not feature UAP candidate for Ashton Rebekah Spelman. Alongside them, a stack of 22 UAP signs was found in a neat pile land against the fence line unattended.
Ms Spelman told the Star Mail her campaign had also experienced the vandalisation and removal of signage.
“What I’ve noticed is when our volunteers go out and put them up they’re either gone within 24 hours or maybe they stay up a little bit longer than that,” she said.
“I know that there’s a bit of a social media campaign going on in the entire city of Melbourne. I’m not sure if it’s a nationwide thing, where people are encouraging people to go out and target specifically the United Australia Party signs.”
Ms Spelman said she often sees Mr Tudge’s signs vandalised but Greens and Labor signs are more likely to be removed.
“We all have to suck it up, grin and bear it and try to counter it as best we can by replacing the legitimate signs that get taken down or vandalised,” she said.
“I think the most important thing to say is that we need to make sure all of those signs are gone on the day after the election so that they’re not an eyesore any longer than they need to be.”
The Greens and Liberal candidates in Aston were contacted for comment.
