Greens allege ‘dirty tricks’ campaign

It wouldn’t be an election without some old-fashioned mud-slinging, and this state election cycle has been no different.

The accusations of foul play started early, with the City of Sydney banning selective hanging of campaign posters on telegraph poles prior to March 12.

Despite this, Council contractors removed Sydney Greens candidate De Brierley Newton’s posters within 24 hours, having left Balmain MP Verity Firth’s posters untouched since Christmas.

“The City of Sydney has told me they have, and I quote, ‘a cleansing team that takes down any material on hot spots’ – that is, any main streets in the City, within 24 hours,” Ms Brierley Newton said.

“[But] Verity Firth has had her election posters up for two months and Adrian Bartels is all down Harris Street.”

It was only after Ms Brierley Newton and City of Sydney Greens councillor Chris Harris complained to Council, that Firth’s posters down Glebe Point Road were removed.

“I was told they (the workers) were chasing their tails for two months,” Ms Brierley Newton said. “I don’t know how they can say that when they were so rigorous in taking down ours within 24 hours.”

Meanwhile, in Marrickville, Greens candidate Fiona Byrne is also weathering a storm of what she calls “dirty tricks”, including push-polling – a form of rumour-mongering masquerading as a poll.

Residents in the area have complained of being contacted by telephone interviewers, presenting the impression they were conducting a survey on behalf of Marrickville Council and asking questions such as, ‘Did you know Fiona Byrne led a boycott against Israel on Council recently?’

Cr Byrne said that she had been contacted by several residents who thought they had been doing a survey for Council until the last question, when they were asked about Cr Byrne as an individual.

The market research company involved has denied it was a push-poll.

Opposition local government spokesperson Chris Hartcher this week said a Coalition government would look to “call councils to account” over the BDS endorsement, without providing details.

Byrne added she had been taken “completely out of context” in a report last month in The Daily Telegraph, which reported that, “the Greens have threatened a trade boycott… in an attack on China.”

“I have never said that I want to boycott China, I have no intention or plan to boycott China,” she said. “What I did say is that if our community comes to us and asks us to discuss things we will do that.

“The Tibetan community have told us they do not want us to boycott China.”

Cr Byrne also noted unauthorised and illegal signs throughout the electorate saying that the Greens were, “anti-gay, anti-women, anti-community”. She has made a formal complaint to the NSW Electoral Commission.