A man and boy have been arrested after a One Nation volunteer was allegedly attacked with a baseball bat outside his home on Victoria’s Surf Coast.
Police on Tuesday confirmed they arrested a ۳۷-year-old Hampton Park man and a ۱۴-year-old boy over the incident, which occurred at a Torquay home on Sunday night.
“Investigators have been told the males allegedly assaulted the victim at a premises on Scorpio Street about ۷.۴۵pm,” a police spokesperson said.
“It is believed they allegedly assaulted the man with a baseball bat before being arrested by attending units a short time later.”
The victim – a ۶۰-year-old man – was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
One Nation’s federal leader, Pauline Hanson, and Victorian deputy leader, Colleen Harkin, were expected to visit the man in hospital on Tuesday morning.
The Hampton Park man was charged with intentionally causing injury and other assault-related offences was remanded in custody appear again on ۱۰ November.
The boy was issued with a caution.
One Nation’s Victorian leader, Warren Pickering, said the alleged attack was on a party volunteer and described it as “un-Australian and unacceptable”.
He alleged the incident began when the man and the boy “interfered with” the One Nation signs on the man’s property.
“Political violence or intimidation of any kind against anyone is unacceptable in this country,” Pickering said.
“If you don’t like someone’s politics, you vote accordingly. You don’t [allegedly] assault them.”
The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, described the alleged incident as “shocking” and said violence should never occur on the campaign trail.
“Whether you’re wearing a red, a blue, an orange or a green T-shirt, they are volunteers, they are out there doing what they believe is right, and no one should be coming under attack,” Carroll said.
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“Let’s have a civil, peaceful election.”
Police are also searching for a woman as part of its investigation into an incident involving the Liberal party MP Georgie Crozier last month.
Police on Tuesday morning said the ۶۲-year-old was handing out flyers with a group of volunteers outside a supermarket on Bay Street in Port Melbourne on ۱۷ October when she was approached by an unknown woman who appeared substance affected.
A short time later, a vehicle mounted a gutter near the group, before it swerved towards nearby traffic lights and left the scene.
Police said those involved where “shaken” following the incident but not physically injured.
They have released an image of a woman they hope will be able to assist their investigation and are calling for any other witnesses to come forward.
MPs in Victoria are on high alert in the lead-up to the ۲۸ November state election following the alleged attack on the federal MP Helen Haines last month.
Last week Victoria’s emergency services minister, Paul Edbrooke, told reporters he believed he was being followed and feared for his family’s safety after a bullet, etched with the word “RAT” and his former firefighter number, was left on his car.
The Animal Justice party MP Georgie Purcell and the Nationals MP Annabelle Cleeland have also raised concerns about threats.
