Image from inthecove.com.au
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.
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.
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:
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:
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:
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.
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.
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:
Hold candidates accountable:
Demand they publicly denounce harassment and disinformation by their supporters and proxies.
🔹 What to ask:
Challenge disinformation wherever you see it:
Share only verified, credible information. Correct lies calmly but firmly.
🔹 What to say:
Protect volunteers and voters:
Document intimidation safely and report it immediately to the AEC or police.
🔹 What to say:
Push for reform:
Support truth-in-political-advertising laws, stronger AEC enforcement powers, and full transparency in political donations.
🔹 What to say:
Every act of courage – every safe vote cast, every lie exposed, every volunteer protected – strengthens the foundation of our democracy.
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
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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The Liberals are using very aggressive tactics at the Narooma NSW pre-poll place. Very pushy volunteers in large groups at the beginning of the volunteer lines and the actual entrance to the hall. Their core-flutes and posters just take up practically the whole place, and they make the voting experience unpleasant.
Oh dear ..... as a now ''retired'' political activist of 50+ years standing I find these conservative hi-jinks a little bity over-sold when the New England experience is considered.
The NOtional$, rather than the voters, are represented by Baaa-nab-bee Beetrooter, the preferred MP since 2013 when Tony Windsor INDEPENDENT was retired by his family on health grounds.
His qualifications for the position include adultery, alcoholism, bigotry, corruption, deceit, fornication, sexual harassment and serial misogyny, attributes which attract the enthusiastic votes of Tamworth ladies looking for a quick slap & tickle. But Beetrooter has recently fallen head over heels for a planter box.
Common sense says that removing such a candidate should be straight forward, except for the pernicious plotting of his Re-election Committee.
Locally the Notional$ membership numbers fell heavily about 1976 when the Country Party was re-named the NOtional$ for the benefit of Joh Bjelke-Petersen attempt to run for feral Parliament. At the Armidale Annual Conference where this matter was resolved, I am advised about 600 of the delegates resigned as they left the premises.
Now the LIARBRAL$ send aspiring young often student members to Armidale, complete with accommodation, forage, travel and hourly payment to attend pre-poll and polling day booths. It seems that locals have little interest in supporting the junior COALition partners which are better known for their ''do nothing to change our path to the 19th century'' philosophy.
So New England is invaded by political activists keen to drum up support for a barely breathing organisation that controls too much political power and does little except build small bridges on back roads leading to the properties of any surviving life members.
The polling place is under the control of the electoral officials, and this includes the entrances and pathways within 6 metres of the entrances. If any supporters are within that area, let alone crowding the doors, a complaint should be made to the presiding officer.