Victoria’s hot seats LIVE updates: Liberal candidate keeps Def Leppard beat; Abbott finds a road bump in Wannon (2025)

Zoe Daniel has reported harassment and stalking to police after she was doxxed in a Facebook post featuring a photograph of her teal-coloured Tesla, including its number plate, taken from inside a locked, gated private car park outside her office.

A screenshot of the post, provided to The Age, shows it is from a private account and includes text stating: “Independent Zoe Daniel. Teals. Stands with Musk. Stands with tarrifs [sic]. Stands with Trump.”

“Yeah, ‘independence works’ … just ask the Tesla-driving, LV-carrying billionaires. #teals #TealsRevealed #Tesla,” the post to the Facebook account says.

Daniel’s chief of staff reported the post to the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and Meta, the owner of Facebook.

“This behaviour is utterly unacceptable and shows no regard for my safety as a woman or an MP,” Daniel said.

She said it was unclear who was behind the post but “teals revealed” was a Liberal Party slogan.

“There’s no place for this behaviour in politics or society. The Liberal Party should condemn it and reel in the dangerous rhetoric of its candidates, members and senators,” she said.

The account holder did not respond to a request for comment.

Pamphlets distributed in Goldstein headed “teals revealed” claim to set out Daniel’s voting record and are authorised by the Liberal Party.

A Liberal Party spokesman said neither Tim Wilson nor the party had any idea who the creator of the social media post was.

“Any suggestion Tim Wilson or his supporters are harassing or stalking Zoe Daniel is absolutely ridiculous, and categorically false,” he said.

“This desperate claim further demonstrates the lack of integrity Zoe Daniel has – that she is willing to taint her opponent with this horrible behaviour, without any solid proof whatsoever. She should apologise for using this very serious issue for political gain.”

Meta removed the post about Daniel after we contacted the social media giant’s media spokesman for comment.

“The post has been removed for violating our community standards,” a spokesman said. “If a user believes a piece of content violates our policies, they can report it within Facebook.”

The spokesman said he could not share details on who was behind the post.

It’s not the first time the election campaign in this state has taken an unsavoury turn.

Victoria Police were called to investigate the source of unauthorised banners with homophobic messages about Labor MP Julian Hill in the electorate of Bruce last week, while masked neo-Nazis rallied outside senior Coalition senator James Paterson’s Melbourne office on Sunday. There have also been numerous complaints about the vandalism of signs and corflutes.

The AFP declined to comment, and Victoria Police did not respond to a request for comment.

A quick follow-up to my earlier post about Kooyong MP Monique Ryan’s appearance on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday – especially that slightly awkward moment when she didn’t seem keen to criticise fellow teal Allegra Spender for paying influencers to post nice things about her.

Ryan has now clarified her comments, saying she misunderstood the question at the time.

“Yesterday on Insiders I was asked about influencers posting on behalf of politicians. I’ve not paid any influencers to generate content on my behalf, was unaware of the issue with Allegra Spender, and was not clear on exactly what I was being asked yesterday morning,” she said.

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“Having now had an opportunity to look at this issue, I fully support the AEC’s position statement from last Friday that influencer content paid for by politicians should be clearly labelled as such.”

To recap: Spender is under scrutiny for paying an agency to commission social media content with online influencers.

Spender made the disclosure after the AEC issued guidance last week that if an influencer, podcaster or content creator is paid for posts or videos it must be authorised.

We’ll keep an eye on this one in case it picks up steam.

As mentioned earlier, Kooyong MP Monique Ryan was the special guest on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday morning.

For those who missed it, the wide-ranging 15-minute interview with host David Speers covered everything from AUKUS to apartments in Hawthorn.

There was an awkward moment when Ryan was asked about fellow Climate 200-backed independent Allegra Spender’s admission of paying social media influencers to produce content.

Ryan said she hadn’t done the same, but noted the importance of social media to connect with younger constituents.

Pressed on whether influencers should have to disclose if they’ve been paid by an MP, Ryan paused before admitting: “I’d have to give it some thought.”

She also addressed her husband’s now-notorious removal of her Liberal opponent’s corflute a few weeks ago. “It was an unfortunate episode … we all make mistakes,” she told Speers.

Here’s a quick wrap of what else came up in the interview:

On AUKUS: ‘We need to diversify’

Ryan echoed concerns from some in her electorate about Australia’s deepening military and strategic ties to the United States during Donald Trump’s second presidency.

“Many people in electorates like Kooyong are concerned that we will never see the Virginia [class] submarines,” she said, pointing to the $368 billion-plus cost of the AUKUS deal as a growing concern.

She reiterated her support for a parliamentary inquiry into the pact, arguing it’s time to consider whether the alliance still serves our national interest: “The US … might not always be a country which works to act in our best interest.”

Dutton’s tax cuts a ‘desperate act’

Ryan didn’t hold back when asked about Peter Dutton’s newly announced one-off tax cut of up to $1200 for low- and middle-income earners.

She called it a “sugar hit” and “a desperate act of someone whose electoral campaign is tanking”.

While acknowledging the pain of the cost-of-living crisis, she argued the policy would likely be inflationary and could jeopardise expected interest rate cuts.

On tax reform: ‘Every lever needs to be on the table’

Ryan said housing affordability was front of mind for young voters in Kooyong, many of whom feel locked out of the property market without help from the “bank of mum and dad”.

“What we need is mature, visionary, well-thought-out, pragmatic tax reform,” she said – particularly reform that addresses affordability for the next generation.

Asked specifically about negative gearing and capital gains tax, she didn’t rule anything out: “Every lever needs to be on the table.”

“It’s a crisis three decades in the making,” she said, “for which neither of the major parties has offered adequate plans.”

While broadly supportive of increasing supply, including Labor’s promise to build 100,000 new homes, she criticised the Victorian Labor government’s rollout of high-density plans in areas like Toorak and Hawthorn. She echoed the sentiments of the Boroondara Council slamming the Allan government for “very poor” consultation and a lack of clarity on infrastructure planning

On gas prices: ‘We’re being ripped off’

Ryan backed east coast gas reform, citing Western Australia’s long-standing gas reservation scheme.

“The problem is that we have a gas export issue,” she said. “Markets like Korea, China and Japan are paying much, much less for our gas than those of us on the east coast are. We’re being ripped off.”

But she cast doubt on Dutton’s proposed solution, saying there were constitutional concerns and questioning whether it would actually lower prices.

Her bigger argument: Australia needs to shift off gas and transition to renewables.

On a hung parliament: Waiting for serious policy

Ryan again left the door open to supporting either major party if there’s a hung parliament – but stressed it would depend on policy, not personality.

She said she’d sit down with both leaders to determine who could deliver “mature, well-thought-out” policies – something she suggested has been lacking in the campaign so far.

And when asked whether she could back Dutton, despite his regular criticism of her, Ryan replied (with a smile) that she’d support “whichever major leader” best reflected the values of Kooyong.

I’ll let readers decide what she meant by that.

This weekend I caught up with One Nation’s candidate in Bruce, Bianca Colecchia, who came to Australia eight years ago on a student visa and now manages a gentlemen’s entertainment club in Melbourne’s CBD.

She doesn’t see her migrant background or her work in the adult entertainment industry as inconsistent with the right-wing political party’s conservative values.

“It’s actually really interesting,” she says. “People go to clubs thinking they’re going to enjoy the night and end up talking politics with me all the time. We actually have a lot of party members who I end up bumping into at work.”

One Nation secured just under 5 per cent of the primary vote at the 2022 election with other right-wing minor parties United Australia (8.7 per cent) and the Liberal Democrats (5 per cent) also taking sizeable bites of the primary vote.

On her Instagram page, Colecchia criticised Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell for wearing crocs to parliament last year.

“Don’t you run a strip club, babe?” one person commented. “Yes. And?” Colecchia responded.

Colecchia relinquished her Italian citizenship this year in the hope of entering parliament, but if attendance at her political events are anything to go by, she might be waiting a long time for this sacrifice to pay off.

The Age popped into Colecchia’s event at Pioneers Park in Berwick on Saturday afternoon, to find no more than a dozen people huddled around an orange and blue marquee.

An Australian flag hung from the tent as attendees spoke of how Islamophobia “isn’t real” and the benefits of “Judeo-Christian” values, while munching on orange and blue cupcakes.

One Nation advocates for “net zero migration” and an end to “student visa loopholes” – policies that would have disadvantaged people such as Colecchia when she arrived in Australia, as well as many of the constituents of Bruce.

“People say it’s hypocritical for me ... I get it, I get where that can come from,” she said. “If that means at the time, these policies wouldn’t have allowed me in, I guess that’s fair enough.”

One Nation is number one on the Bruce ballot paper, one of six minor parties running in the electorate. Colecchia said new members have joined from both Labor and Liberal, as support for the two-party system declines.

“A lot of people are disenfranchised from the major parties. At the end of the day, sometimes it doesn’t feel like there is a real opposition, they are agreeing on a lot of things. Both major parties took a lot of our policies this election cycle. Nobody talks about that.”

Colecchia does not live in the electorate, and has been critical of Muslim communities online, but says this will not impact her ability to represent the multicultural community.

“I haven’t lived here but I have friends in this area,” she said. “I know what the struggles are and I know our policies could make a difference.”

Colecchia says she was the “least political person” growing up in Italy, and pursued a career in rhythmic gymnastics, competing professionally and later opening a coaching school.

She became interested in politics while living in Melbourne during the coronavirus pandemic, when she became incensed by what she said were “lies” told by the media and politicians regarding mask mandates and vaccine use.

She completed an arts degree at the University of Melbourne, and claims she threatened legal action against the university over what she perceived as political bias in compulsory units.

The university would not independently confirm this and Colecchia did not respond to requests for documents to verify her claims.

The first-time candidate is now drafting a policy to enforce “political neutrality” in the education system.

Her Instagram account criticises a Labor funding commitment of $8.5 million for “Hindu Schools” – a policy also supported by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton – by claiming students should use mainstream schools or “go back to their country”.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was found by the Federal Court to have engaged in racial discrimination last year when she told Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi to “piss off back to Pakistan” in 2022.

Colecchia said Hanson could have chosen her words better, but she thinks the law needs to be altered to better protect freedom of speech.

“The ‘piss off’ might arguably be offensive to some,” she said. “Sometimes she could have better ways of saying it maybe, but that’s who she is.”

Colecchia said the key issue this election was cost of living, and claimed her party would reduce energy bills by 20 per cent by increasing fossil fuels and ditching international climate agreements.

She did not provide supporting documentation or evidence to support this promise, and when asked if she believes in climate change, Colecchia laughed and said “no” before claiming weather is “cyclical” and would “eventually balance out”.

With less than three weeks until election day, campaigning intensified in Wills at the weekend as some candidates – though not the sitting MP – attended a forum in Fawkner, the seat’s poorest suburb.

Hot topics included poverty and food access, the poor performance of local public high schools, the need to upgrade the Upfield train line, the environment, violence against women and the situation in Gaza.

Present were the Greens’ Samantha Ratnam, Socialist Alliance candidate Sue Bolton, a Fusion Party representative as their candidate couldn’t make it and One Nation’s Bruce Stevens.

Forum organisers noted that Labor MP Peter Khalil did not attend and that Liberal candidate Jeff Kidney did not respond to their invitation.

The Legalise Cannabis Party was an apology but supplied a statement that was read out.

While Khalil wasn’t at Saturday’s forum, he was still busy, announcing $3.3 million to restore Brunswick’s historic Gillon Oval, including repairs to the dilapidated grandstand and lighting upgrades to allow night games.

Khalil was out again on Sunday, with an announcement of $3.7 million to rebuild the Inner Circle Linear Park, particularly its cycling and walking path, in two of the seat’s most affluent suburbs, Fitzroy North and Princes Hill.

Once a railway line, the park was converted by Labor in 1992 into a green space with a cycle path now used by 3000 riders daily.

Khalil was reluctant to be drawn on whether the funding stood even if Labor lost Wills to the Greens.

“A re-elected Labor government is going to deliver on its promises like we did in the first term,” he said.

He said the rebuilt park would “integrate play and meeting spaces into the existing environment”.

The City of Yarra’s Socialist mayor, Stephen Jolly, warmly welcomed the federal Labor funding, and said it would resolve key issues with the park and its paths.

“The problem with the trail as it is, is that bicycles speed down here, and people who are walking or pushing prams share it. So what we’re gonna have is two separated lanes: one dedicated for bikes and one for pedestrians,” he said.

Asked if it was an appropriate way to spend money, given it was already a well-functioning bike lane, Jolly said: “They’re spending $360 billion on nuclear submarines we will probably never get anyway, so a few million dollars on something people will actually use seems money well spent.

“As mayor, I love elections. Any politician, no matter what their political colour is, if they want to come into Yarra and get votes, they’re gonna have to show the colour of their money to the locals.”

Well, it was all go in the east over the unseasonably sunny weekend that was.

Amelia Hamer had a jam-packed Saturday morning, hosting three supermarket meet-and-greets in Camberwell, Balwyn and Balwyn North.

She wasn’t alone, with shadow treasurer Angus Taylor along for the ride, as was a very peppy Easter bunny rocking an Amelia-branded T-shirt and badge. Even the bunny was on message.

Taylor’s been a regular fixture in Hamer’s campaign – you may remember the telephone town hall she joined with him instead of attending a candidates forum run by local environmental group Lighter Footprints a few weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Hamer’s new HQ at Camberwell Junction (a former Country Road store, no less) is up and running, wrapped in more than 200 metres of window signage.

On Saturday, more than 50 volunteers and supporters turned out for a big group photo with Hamer, the bunny, and some heavyweight Liberals: former premier Jeff Kennett and former Victorian Liberal leader and Hawthorn MP John Pesutto.

According to Hamer’s team, she had 170 volunteers out across 43 locations on Saturday, but it hasn’t all been smiles.

Hamer’s advisers say that her campaign signs were defaced on Friday night, slashed and graffitied across multiple suburbs including Malvern, Armadale and Toorak. One home in Toorak hosting a Liberal sign was even egged.

Hamer’s Malvern campaign office window was also hit with black spray-painted graffiti, including a hammer and sickle symbol – something campaign volunteers called frightening and a disgrace.

Private CCTV footage captured between 2am and 3am on Saturday shows more signs being tagged with slogans like “Capitalists will die”, “I get off on poor suffering” and “Communism will win”.

One of the vandalised signs had the Liberal slogan “Get Australia back on track” altered to read: “Get land back to natives”.

This latest incident follows earlier reports of slashed Liberal signs in Toorak in March.

Over in teal territory, Monique Ryan’s campaign was on a doorknock blitz: 300 volunteers out and about, knocking on 4000 doors across the electorate over the weekend, according to her advisers.

Ryan herself gave a pep talk at Lumley Gardens in Prahran on Saturday, before appearing on the ABC’s Insiders on Sunday morning. (More on that later.)

It wasn’t just the frontrunners pounding the pavement in the sun.

Labor’s 22-year-old candidate, Clive Crosby, launched his campaign on Sunday at the Camberwell Community Centre on Fairholm Grove.

On the guest list were state upper house MPs Ryan Batchelor and John Berger, plus Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah, the former Higgins MP whose old seat has been partially absorbed into Kooyong.

Ananda-Rajah is now running for the Senate.

Crosby also spent part of Saturday out and about at shopping strips, chatting to voters. Greens candidate Jackie Carter was doorknocking on Sunday too. In Kooyong, the campaigning never sleeps.

Hello and welcome to week three of our hot seats blog, in which we’re taking a close look at the ground campaign in key Victorian seats in the federal election.

This week we have Cara Waters looking at Goldstein, Clay Lucas in Wills, Charlotte Grieve in Bruce and Rachael Dexter in Kooyong.

As we have in the first fortnight, we will also keep an eye on other seats for interesting snippets.

We have had some terrific feedback from readers so please do get in touch with the reporters with anything you’ve seen out on the streets.