Campaign sign at Jewish MP’s house vandalised with antisemitic graffiti
The vandalised sign supporting Benson Saulo had with the words "Libs = Nazis" scrawled alongside a swastika drawn on Saulo's forehead
A campaign sign for Liberal Macnamara candidate Benson Saulo at the home of Victorian Liberal MP David Southwick has been defaced with antisemitic graffiti, including a Nazi swastika.
The Shadow Police Minister and Member for Caulfield discovered the vandalism on Thursday morning after his wife alerted him to the graffiti that had appeared overnight on their fence.
“I was on my way to work and I received a call from my wife to say the sign had been graffitied overnight with a Nazi swastika on it,” Southwick told The Age. “It was very, very confronting and something I wouldn’t have expected.”
The vandalised sign supporting Saulo had with the words “Libs = Nazis” scrawled alongside a swastika drawn on Saulo’s forehead.
Southwick, who is Jewish and campaigns against antisemitism, has filed a police report about the incident. He expressed hope that the vandals were unaware they were targeting his home.
“I hope they don’t know it’s my house. I really hope not, that’s all I can think about at the moment,” he told The Age.
In a social media post addressing the incident, Southwick wrote: “Unfortunately, this kind of hate is becoming more common, especially around election time.
“There is no place for gutless cowards that spew hate by defacing signs with racist messages in the middle of the night. There are laws now against this stuff and they should be enforced.”
The MP revealed that Saulo, who is Indigenous, had recently contacted him about similar vandalism of his campaign materials throughout the Macnamara electorate. According to reports, Saulo’s billboards have been defaced with neo-Nazi and white supremacist stickers.
Macnamara has one of the largest Jewish communities in Australia, with approximately 12 per cent of voters identifying as Jewish.
“We must stand united against this kind of extremism. There’s no place for hate in our community,” Southwick said.
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