‘Jeered and belittled’: MP slams polling booth bullying
A disabled MP has slammed the treatment of vulnerable Australians in polling booths, accusing some party volunteers of being hostile.
Details of bullying, intimidation and stand-by tactics released in parliamentary inquiry into 2025 federal election; Candidates and community volunteers repeatedly described the hostility as the worst they had ever seen during a campaign.
Labor MP Carol Berry, who won the NSW Illawarra-based seat of Whitlam, accused volunteers from another party of taking advantage of an elderly woman, recalling “unacceptable” behavior at the polls.
Ms Berry worked in the disability sector for more than 15 years before standing in May’s election.
“The voting booths were crowded, oppressive and overwhelming. I saw people with sensory issues visibly recoil when they approached the voting booth,” he told a hearing in Dapto on Wednesday.
He said an opposition volunteer took leaflets from other parties from the hands of an old woman and handed them a leaflet for their own party, saying “oh, you just need this”.
“He was a person who I perceived to be in obvious cognitive decline. He was very unsteady on his feet,” Ms Berry said.
“The old woman looked confused and overwhelmed, and I told this volunteer that this was unacceptable and gave all these materials back to the old woman.”
The MP, who turned 50 on Wednesday and has been politically active since his teenage years, said this was some of the worst behavior he had ever seen.
“I had never experienced anything like this in voting booths before. I found it particularly inappropriate. I was ridiculed and belittled,” he said.
“I ignored it, but it struck me as hostile, boring, sexist and unpleasant.”
Ms Berry also accused some volunteers from the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church of anti-social behaviour; There were numerous reports that members of the sect helped distribute how-to-vote cards for the Liberal Party during the election.
The Church and the Liberals rejected any official regulation.
The behavior of cult members was brought up many times throughout the investigation.
A spokesman for the Brethren said the group had no involvement in elections or politics and that members were free to campaign voluntarily but did not represent the church in doing so.
“All Australians should be able to freely participate in the electoral process. And they should be able to do so without fear of being judged or discriminated against for their beliefs,” they told AAP in a statement.
Ms Berry suggested the Australian Electoral Commission publish a community standards guide on how volunteers and candidates should behave and that they should have the authority to enforce that behaviour, so people are kicked out of the polls if they engage in inappropriate behaviour.
