Election gets ugly: online trolls, vandals and polling booth safety
Cars vandalised and comment sections filled with homophobic, sexist language are marring the state election, parties turning on each other for perpetrating extreme views. As polling opens, some candidates fear for their safety.
After SA Best member Connie Bonaros called Cory Bernardi a “malaka” on the weekend over his anti-gay marriage comments, her social media was swarmed with an influx of hate.
Bonaros claimed it was a symptom of an increasingly hate-filled state election campaign leading up to polling on March 21.
“I’ve never seen a campaign like this,” Bonaros told InDaily.
Her comments come as Labor Education Minister Blair Boyer today called out “extreme views” from a Liberal candidate who claimed homosexuality and feminism was “demonic”.
The Liberal candidate for Unley Rosalie Ritorto has had her car vandalised this week, while Greens candidate Melanie Selwood said her comment section is flooded with AI-generated images distorting Greens senators to look overweight.
Bonaros said that while “we’re used to receiving these sorts of messages in public life from people out there, keyboard warriors” it had “certainly amplified a lot” in this state election campaign.
“Sadly, I think it’s a typical example of the kind of hate that has been spreading like wildfire throughout this election campaign, and I’ve just had enough,” Bonaros said.
“The sort of dog whistling and undertones to the political messages that we’re hearing throughout this campaign, they are spreading hate and fear.
You might like
“It’s often amplified and directed at individuals rather than ideas, and there’s no question that when it comes to women, and I don’t think it’s just women in public life, women in general, the language is magnified and sexualised a thousand-fold.”
She said commenters have taken a dig at her personal religious beliefs and values and she is not alone.
When asked if the backlash has made her regret her comment, she said “I regret my comment about as much as Cory regrets his 14 years ago and doubling down on them last week”, Bonaros referring to Bernardi linking gay marriage with bestiality.
Cory Bernardi and One Nation declined to respond to Bonaros calling Bernardi a “malaka”.
A One Nation spokesperson told InDaily that One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has received nasty messages online for decades and it was “nothing new to us”.
“We don’t accept any assertion that our supporters or voter base is responsible for what is being broadly termed as hate online,” the spokesman said.
“This is the problem with political debate in Australia today, almost anything the left disagrees with is conflated as hate.”
But Bonaros said it is affecting volunteers and preventing them from showing up on election day. She said one volunteer of 20 years “messaged me out of the blue and said, ‘Connie, I really wish you well, but I don’t feel safe going out on Election Day this year, and I’m going to sit it out’.”
“I was angered that somebody who has taken part in election days for two decades feels suddenly that he might become the target of hate directed towards him on election day,” she said.
“I’ve heard that said a lot, people are genuinely concerned that things have gotten so out of hand that this election day might not be as friendly and civil as what we’ve seen in the past and if these comments are anything to go by, then I think people are quite rightly concerned.”
A One Nation party spokesman said the party advises its polling booth volunteers to behave respectfully, “not to rise to provocation,” and, if there is an incident, to film it and report it to the electoral commission’s polling booth manager.
Deputy Premier Kyam Maher said the Electoral Commission now has extended powers to crack down on disruptive polling booth behaviour.
Stay informed, daily
Liberal candidate for Dunstan, Anna Finzio, said she felt intimidated and bullied by opponents at the 2024 by-election after an incident in which her picture was repeatedly taken by another party staffer. Her complaint was escalated to then-Liberal leader David Speirs, and another male colleague then accompanied her at the polling booth for safety. The incident was resolved at the time.
Finizio said she also experienced a variety of social media comments, from those on the other side of politics and the public. She said while she was happy to engage with policy questions, she would “block and delete” hateful comments and had changed her posting habits, such as tagging her door-knocking location, to keep herself safe.
Liberal candidate for Giles, Sunny Singh, had also been targeted on social media by comments targeting his Indian heritage.
Pre-polling opens this Saturday, and ahead of the deadline, Education Minister Blair Boyer held a press conference to share podcast snippets of his Liberal opponent in the seat of Wright, Carston Woodhouse.
Boyer said the videos show Woodhouse has made comments claiming homosexuality and feminism were “demonic” in an Elijahfire podcast in July 2025. Boyer pointed to other comments made by Woodhouse in 2023 and said the Liberal leader must explain if this is a reflection of party views.
The Liberal Party was contacted for comment.
Boyer said voters in his electorate had not raised concerns with him about the videos.
When asked if voters felt unsafe attending pre-polling because of rhetoric like Woodhouse’s in the campaign, Boyer said: “The problem here is that people aren’t aware of it”.
“The language here is so extreme. It is so extreme. It is so insulting to people. This is not just saying to play devil’s advocate here. It’s not just saying that they don’t agree with feminism as a notion, or that there’s not something that they partake in, this is saying that feminism is demonic.”
Deputy Premier Kyam Maher said that it was “disappointing to see divisive and hurtful language in this election campaign”.
“The Malinauskas Labor Government has given stronger powers to Electoral Commission officials to tackle disruptive behaviour at polling booths,” he said in response to questions on safety concerns.
“This includes fines of up to $5000 for seeking to disrupt a polling place, and powers for electoral staff to remove people from the area.
“Anyone engaging in harassment and hate speech at polling booths should be dealt with immediately. Labor is focused on an inclusive society that brings people together, not tears people apart with division.”
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
