Australians Defending Democracy: Say NO to Voter Intimidation

Election 2025 – Practical Tips, Qs & Statements to defend democracy at the polling booth

By Sue Barrett

For as long as I can remember, voting in Australia was a benign, straightforward experience. Polling booths were peaceful, respectful spaces where volunteers offered flyers politely, and voters were free to make their choices without interference or fear.

But something changed in 2022.

When the two-party system was disrupted – when more Australians began supporting community independents and demanding real accountability – the tone at election time shifted dramatically.

Since then, the escalation in intimidation, aggression, and disinformation has been like nothing I have seen or experienced in a lifetime of voting.

Now, in 2025, it has reached dangerous new levels – and it threatens the very fabric of our democracy.

In this article, I not only expose the growing threats to our democracy – I also want to help arm you with practical questions and statements you can use to calmly and confidently counter voter intimidation, disinformation, and harassment – see below.

Cherrybrook: A Warning for the Nation

As reported by Channel Seven and Community Independent for Berowra, Tina Brown 26 April 2025, at the Cherrybrook pre-poll centre in Sydney’s north-west, a Liberal Party volunteer allegedly bullied and intimidated teal and Labor volunteers so severely that both left the booth in tears.

Police were called.

Yet rather than facing meaningful consequences, reports suggest the volunteer was simply redeployed to another polling location – while sitting Liberal MP Julian Leeser was present and did not intervene.

This is not an isolated incident.

It is part of a coordinated pattern of intimidation and disinformation that is escalating, driven by the Liberal Party, and their proxy groups – including Repeal the Teal, Advance Australia, Australians for Prosperity, and Better Australia.

For instance, at another pre-poll booth on Saturday, one Liberal Party volunteer shared their private concerns about this type of behaviour with another group’s volunteer saying ‘It’s too much, isn’t it?’ Yes it is. But they were too frightened to call it out themselves for fear of retaliation.

Let’s be very clear: this is not coming from community independents or their supporters, who continue to campaign respectfully, peacefully, and in the spirit of democratic engagement.

Intimidation Is Systemic – And It’s Organised by Powerful Interests

The aggression we are seeing doesn’t just erupt at polling booths. It is weeks and months, if not years, in the making – and it is politically and financially organised.

Across electorates, we are witnessing:

• Defaced and vandalised signage, systematically targeting community independents and non-major party candidates.
• Secret filming and photography of volunteers, used to harass, intimidate, and shame people lawfully participating in democracy.
• Coordinated online disinformation campaigns, spreading lies, conspiracy theories, and defamatory personal attacks on independents.
• Dark-money-funded proxy groups, like Repeal the Teal, Advance Australia, Australians for Prosperity, and Better Australia, pumping out misleading materials to confuse, frighten, and discourage voters.

In my recent post: Digital Lies that rig your vote, I asked Grok AI, “Who is spreading the most political lies in 2025?”, the answer was unambiguous:

The Liberal Party – particularly targeting community independents.

But it’s not just political parties acting alone. A web of vested interests is fuelling and financing this behaviour, desperate to maintain their grip on power:

• Fossil fuel industries, determined to block climate action and protect billion-dollar profits, are major financial backers of groups like Advance Australia and Australians for Prosperity.
  • Australians for Prosperity, launched in Australia in 2024, received nearly $725,000 in donations linked to coal and gas interests in its first six months (The Guardian, Dec 2024).
• Billionaire donors and corporate elites have poured millions into anti-independent campaigns, attempting to reassert control through funding groups like Advance Australia (The Age Good Weekend, 19 April 2025).
• Right-wing media outlets, including Sky News and the Murdoch press, have amplified smear campaigns, staged confrontational media stunts (such as the targeting of Monique Ryan), and actively spread disinformation narratives (Media Watch reports, 2022–2025).

As reported in The Age Good Weekend (19 April 2025), Advance Australia models itself on the MAGA-style populist movements that have wreaked havoc across the West.

In the words of acting editor Greg Callaghan:

“The Advance propaganda machine is aimed at ordinary Australians but backed by some of our wealthiest – and has links to a right-wing US foundation.”

Tim Elliott’s cover story ripped away the propaganda veneer, exposing Advance Australia’s claim of being a “grassroots” organisation as disingenuous.

Behind the scenes, Advance copied the US-style right-wing playbook – championing “free speech” but only for those who agree with their ideology, and pushing a discriminatory, “anti-woke” agenda.

The consequences of such movements internationally are already clear:

• Brexit, once championed by right-wing populists, is now forecast to cost the UK three million jobs and slash investment by 32 per cent by 2035 (Cambridge Econometrics).
• Donald Trump’s relentless attacks on American democratic institutions turned the US economy into a “tariff circus” and dangerously weakened judicial and electoral safeguards – all to consolidate personal power.

Australia must learn from these examples.

We cannot allow billionaire-backed propaganda and intimidation to corrode our democracy under a false banner of “grassroots” activism.

This is not democracy.

This is corporate-funded political warfare, designed to silence voters, volunteers, and candidates who threaten the old order.

When Volunteers Intimidate, It Reflects Directly on the Candidate – And the System They Defend

Let’s be absolutely clear: The behaviour of your volunteers, your proxies, and your campaigners is a direct reflection on you as a candidate.

When harassment, bullying, or intimidation happens – and candidates stay silent, or quietly shift aggressors elsewhere  – they send an unmistakable message:

You condone it. You benefit from it. You are part of it.

Silence is complicity.

Tolerance of intimidation is endorsement of intimidation.

But this is bigger than any one candidate.

It reflects a political culture – particularly within the Liberal Party and its network of proxy groups – that has normalised bullying, disinformation, and fear as campaign strategies, especially since the traditional two-party dominance began to weaken.

When character assassination, disinformation, defamation, and media entrapment – such as the recent Sky News stunt against Monique Ryan – are allowed to flourish, they don’t just harm individuals, they corrode the public trust that democracy depends upon.

They teach that fear is stronger than respect, intimidation stronger than truth, and that winning matters more than honour.

That is not democracy. That is moral decay.

Worryingly, Trans Tasman’s research shows 60% of Aussies fear misinformation will sway their vote because digital lies, amplified by platforms like WeChat, TikTok, Instagram, FB, and X spreading unchecked and then weaponised on the ground by aggressive, disingenous volunteers. Why is this allowed to happen in Australia when it is illegal in other countries like Germany? Because Australia lacks truth in political advertising laws.

A Call to Action: Defend Our Democracy

We must not accept bullying and intimidation as the new normal.

We must stand up – for ourselves, for each other, and for the future of Australia.

When we are faced with intimidation, disinformation, or harassment, it is critical that we respond calmly, confidently, and lawfully.

Words matter.

By asking the right questions and making clear statements, we can expose bad behaviour, reinforce democratic values, and defuse attempts to frighten, intimidate or deceive voters.

Here are practical tips – and the powerful questions and statements you can use – to defend democracy wherever you are:

Vote with confidence and solidarity:

Support each other at booths. Stand firm in the face of intimidation.

🔹 What to say:

• “Why are you trying to scare voters instead of trusting them to choose for themselves?”
• “I have the right to vote free from harassment. Please step back.”
• “We’re here to vote – not to be bullied.”
• “Intimidation isn’t democracy. It’s a disgrace.”

Hold candidates accountable:

Demand they publicly denounce harassment and disinformation by their supporters and proxies.

🔹 What to ask:

• “Will you publicly denounce any harassment or bullying by your volunteers?”
• “Why haven’t you condemned intimidation at pre-poll and election day booths?”
• “If you tolerate bullying in your campaign, how can we trust you to lead with integrity?”
• “Do you stand for free and fair elections – or for intimidation tactics?”

Challenge disinformation wherever you see it:

Share only verified, credible information. Correct lies calmly but firmly.

🔹 What to say:

• “Can you show me a verified source for that claim?”
• “That’s not true. Here’s the real information from the AEC, etc.”
• “Spreading lies to win votes isn’t leadership – it’s cowardice.”
• “Why are you so afraid of honest debate?”

Protect volunteers and voters:

Document intimidation safely and report it immediately to the AEC or police.

🔹 What to say:

• “You are being filmed for our protection. Please step back.”
• “This behaviour is being reported to the AEC.”
• “Threatening voters is a breach of election conduct laws. Please leave us alone.”
• “We will not be intimidated. We have the right to be here.”

Push for reform:

Support truth-in-political-advertising laws, stronger AEC enforcement powers, and full transparency in political donations.

🔹 What to say:

• “We deserve elections based on truth, not lies.”
• “We need laws that protect voters, not political bullies.”
• “Real leaders campaign on values, not intimidation.”
• “Transparency, truth, and decency must be the foundation of Australian democracy.”

Every act of courage – every safe vote cast, every lie exposed, every volunteer protected – strengthens the foundation of our democracy.

This is Bigger Than Politics – It’s About Who We Are

No matter who you vote for, democracy belongs to all of us.

Real democracy demands respect, honesty, and courage – not fear, lies, and bullying.

Our democracy was hard won – and we will not surrender it to bullies and fear.
We will not be silent.
We will not be intimidated.
We will not back down.

Onward we press

Resources 

26 April 2025 Channel Seven: Police called to Cherrybrook pre-polling booth after alleged bullying, intimidation by liberal volunteer called out

The Good Weekend, The Age, 19 April 2025 edition: ‘Copied the MAGA model’: The ‘grassroots’ lobby group funded by some of Australia’s richest

This article was originally published on Sue Barrett

 

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