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Kooyong Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer agreed to an on-camera chat with me at the pre-polling booth in Malvern earlier this week, and we covered everything from cost-of-living to jiu-jitsu.
One of the more contentious issues to follow her so far has been her property portfolio which I revealed a few weeks ago in The Age.
At 31, Hamer owns homes in both Canberra and London, a fact not disclosed earlier in her campaign when she was highlighting her status as a renter in Hawthorn. Her main rival, incumbent independent MP Monique Ryan, has accused her of misleading voters.
I asked Hamer a few different ways whether she regretted not declaring those properties sooner. She didn’t directly say yes or no, instead suggesting her rental status may simply be more notable given her political party.
“Sometimes, as a younger politician in the Liberal Party, it’s probably more interesting to people that I rent,” she said. “I’ve talked about being a home owner. I’ve talked about being a renter.”
While critics call it a case of dishonesty by omission, Hamer said she wasn’t deceptive and maintained she shared her background when relevant.
“No one’s experience is the same as anyone else’s,” she said. “But where I can find common ground with people, that’s how I approach it.”
We also talked about housing policy, and the Coalition’s controversial pledge to allow first-home buyers to use their superannuation for a house deposit.
Hamer defended the idea by flipping the narrative.
“You can buy an investment property with your superannuation, but you actually can’t buy your first home if you don’t own that yet,” she said.
“So I think it’s a good thing to say to people: you can invest in shares, you can invest in property, but you can also invest in your first home.”
This election marks Hamer’s first tilt at public office. A former finance professional, she has focused her campaign on cost-of-living concerns, access to healthcare, and “the basics”—including road maintenance, which has drawn criticism for being a state or local issue.
But Hamer argues Canberra should step in when other levels of government drop the ball. “My focus is not on the bureaucracy, it’s on solving problems,” she said. “If the state can’t fund a project, maybe the feds can help unlock it.”
She also stood by the Coalition’s push to pursue nuclear energy, saying Kooyong voters want net-zero solutions but expect “all technologies on the table”.
I also asked her what had surprised her most on the campaign trail.
“The level of support and kindness from people,” Hamer said. “Even those who don’t necessarily support me have been willing to have open, constructive conversations.”
And for those trying to get to know her: Hamer is a jiu-jitsu enthusiast. “Hopefully that stands me in good stead in parliament,” she joked, “and in the chamber.”
If you’d like to suggest more questions for Hamer or Ryan when I catch up with them next – feel free to leave them below.
It’s just before midday when I meet Abu Yusuf at Fawkner’s Little Anderson cafe. Yusuf is the convenor of NOBS – short for North of Bell Street.
The shopping strip is quiet on this Anzac Day morning, but Yusuf says it’s usually full of life.
Abu Yusuf is part of community group NOBS – North of Bell St – which lobbies for better services in Fawkner, Hadfield and Glenroy.Credit: Justin McManus
Earlier this month, Yusuf’s group hosted a community forum. It drew about 40 attendees, including three candidates running for the seat of Wills at next Saturday’s federal election: the Greens’ Samantha Ratnam, socialist Sue Bolton and One Nation’s Bruce Stevens.
Notably absent was local Labor MP Peter Khalil.
NOBS was formed during the coronavirus lockdowns, when residents in the northern suburbs of Fawkner, Hadfield and Glenroy were confined to their homes.
“Fawkner was one of the suburbs that had a hard lockdown,” says Yusuf. “We had police vans scanning numberplates, and we had the creek on one end and the freeway on the other – we really were stuck in here.”
Reporter Clay Lucas and Yusuf meet at Anderson Road, Fawkner, on a quiet Anzac Day morning.Credit: Justin McManus
Around 70 per cent of the group is Muslim, Yusuf says. “We broke bread during Ramadan one year after the lockdowns. And we realised it was a brilliant little group of people.”
What began as a loose group of neighbours has become a more organised effort, with the group now lobbying for services like those already available in the richer southern parts of the electorate, which takes in North Fitzroy, Princes Hill and North Carlton.
“I used to live in Brunswick and the services you have there are superb,” he says. “But when you hit the 60km/h zone up here in the north of Wills, you see median strips not being maintained, the parks and public toilets are worse, there is no equity in provision of public services – why are we treated differently to our counterparts in the south of the seat?”
A complaint I’ve heard repeatedly while reporting on Wills is that the Upfield train line – already one of Melbourne’s most infrequent – is even less reliable beyond Coburg.
“Everything stops at Coburg and they cancel them and run them back into the city,” Yusuf says.
Though train services are a state responsibility, both Khalil and Ratnam are campaigning on the issue.
Ratnam says she will lobby hard for the duplication of the rail line, while Khalil says state and federal Labor will spend $7 million on a northern corridor study that includes potentially duplicating the rail line.
(State Labor hasn’t helped instil trust in Khalil’s message, recently cancelling a train turn-back on the Upfield line at Gowrie station as part of a cost-cutting process for the Metro Tunnel.)
Yusuf says Fawkner in particular has consistently poorer government services than other areas in the electorate. “Labor has taken us for granted,” he says.
Khalil is aware of the discontent. This month, he pledged $4.6 million to upgrade the courts at Fawkner Netball Club if Labor is re-elected.
Yusuf also says Gaza is a critical issue around his suburb, and that this may cause Labor to lose votes to the Greens. The Greens are openly referring to Israel’s attacks on Gaza – which the Associated Press this week reported had killed 51,000 people, quoting the Palestinian Health Ministry – as “genocide”.
“Palestine is a burning issue around here. In Brunswick it’s an issue because they are progressive people interested in humanitarian issues. Up here, there are so many people with family ties to Palestine. It’s very, very close to a lot of people.”
Yusuf says the NOBS volunteer group is small – just a core of about 10 active members – but when they mobilise, they can draw in as many as 120 supporters.
“We are not going to change things but you can influence things,” he says.
Anzac Day in Bruce started with both major party candidates laying wreaths in darkness at separate predawn ceremonies – Liberal Zahid Safi in Dandenong and Labor MP Julian Hill in Narre Warren.
“We gathered in the quiet of dawn in Dandenong to honour the brave men and women who fought for the freedoms we enjoy today,” Safi posted on social media from the event. “Their courage and sacrifice shaped the nation we are proud to call home.”
Just past 9am, I joined another service of around 100 people gathered in a small park on Memorial Drive in Narre Warren North. The Australian flag hung at half-mast, while schoolchildren dressed in blazers and berets gathered underneath.
Liberal candidate Zahid Safi at the Berwick ceremony with his wife. Credit: Charlotte Grieve
Elderly residents brought their own camping chairs to watch the proceedings from underneath a waratah tree in full bloom.
Julian Hill arrived in a suit, coffee in hand, and addressed the schoolgirl choir: “Thanks for being here and double thanks to those who have been up since dawn.”
There were bagpipes, children marching, speeches and poems read by students about the Anzac history and spirit. A young woman wearing a blue pantsuit sang the Australian anthem into a microphone.
Wreaths were laid by Hill, Victorian Liberal MP Ann-Marie Hermans, Casey mayor Stefan Koomen, police officers, firefighters, scouts and members of the public.
A man played The Last Post on the trumpet at 9.50am, and silence descended over the park. The breeze lifted as the flag went up the pole.
Narre Warren North Community Association vice president Michael Gonsalves organised the event and said he made an effort to involve the younger generation, so the traditions live on. “It’s important the country remembers the sacrifices of the past,” he said.
Gonsalves has seen many elections come and go, but he’d noticed more tension in the community this time round.
“We’re non-political,” he said. “There’s a lot of friction and we need the community to get together. The election posters have been vandalised, which has been sad. It should be peaceful whatever happens.”
Afterwards, a local woman approached me to say thanks for looking into Safi’s NDIS businesses. “Good job. I have a child with disability, why couldn’t he just answer the questions?” she said.
As the crowd dissipated, Hill headed to the Scouts Hall down the road, where a sausage sizzle and homemade Anzac biscuits were on offer.
A mug and biscuit in hand, Hill chatted with a family he met campaigning at the local train station recently. “I was unnaturally cheery at 6am,” Hill said. “Yes!” the woman exclaimed, laughing. “It’s too early to be this happy.”
Next stop was a much larger service in Berwick. Hundreds of people gathered in the main strip, where military vehicles circled, with children and veterans with medals pinned on their jackets waving from the windows.
Labor MP Julian Hill and state Opposition Leader Brad Battin.Credit: Charlotte Grieve
Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin was there, his third service of the day. “Here’s always good,” he said. “I’ve been coming here for 50 years.”
In a brief conversation with The Age, Battin said he had “no idea” if Safi would attend. When asked about the campaign so far: “I don’t want to talk about it on Anzac Day.”
A few minutes later, Safi arrived with his wife, wearing a navy-blue suit and silk patterned tie. He spoke with Battin briefly before standing behind him, smiling.
Before the speeches began, Safi walked across to the other side of the crowd to stand next to Liberal MP Jason Wood, wearing a hat and dark glasses. They stood side by side, heads down as the speeches were delivered.
Reverend Evelyn Allan of the Berwick Anglican Church spoke about the human toll of conflict and called for “justice and peace for all humanity”.
“Let us pray for the people of those countries throughout this time who are living in the horrors of war, especially if you think of Israel, the Gaza Strip, Syria and in Ukraine, all who are suffering violence and destruction of their homes and country.
“We pray for the safety of the peacekeeping forces in those places and for all the volunteers as they reach out to help and administer aid.
“May they all be encouraged and strengthened in their defence and need for peace.”
The politicians laid wreaths. The national anthem was sung. A row of people in military uniform shot rifles into the sky three times, causing a chorus of babies to cry and dogs to bark. There was no Welcome to Country at either event.
As the midday sun started to beat down on the crowd, an elderly man wobbled on his feet and grabbed the lectern to find balance. Hill and Battin swung into action – Battin grabbing a chair and Hill finding the man a bottle of water.
“Thank you,” the man said as he shook both their hands.
A rare moment of bipartisanship on the day of reflection.
Anzac Day is a day for solemn remembrance but if you are hoping to be elected (or re-elected) as a member of parliament, it is also a day for crisscrossing the electorate, trying to fit in as many Anzac Day services as possible.
It was all I could do to keep up with independent teal MP Zoe Daniel and Liberal candidate Tim Wilson as they zipped around the closely contested seat of Goldstein. For both candidates, the day started early at 5.30am at the dawn service at the Hampton RSL.
Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel attending the Elwood Sailing Club’s Anzac Day ceremony. Credit: Wayne Taylor
Daniel had pride of place in the seating on the stage as the incumbent MP and was called on to lay the first wreath.
Following local primary schools and scout groups laying wreaths, Wilson was also called up to lay a wreath before he quickly exited the service while it was still going to get to the next service at 6.30am in Caulfield.
Wilson’s Anzac Day activity has been closely watched after the former MP clashed with one of Daniel’s representatives at an Anzac Day service two years ago in Beaumaris. Daniel claimed he took the wreath her representative was supposed to lay.
Wilson defended laying the wreath, saying he was asked to do so by an RSL staff member because Daniel was not in attendance.
There was no conflict over wreaths this Anzac Day with the drama limited to how quickly the two candidates could get around the electorate.
Wilson managed to make it to the Caulfield RSL just in time to lay his own wreath – somewhat to the surprise of the organisers who announced “a representative for Tim Wilson … Tim is actually here, so Tim Wilson” would lay his wreath.
Daniel was still on stage in Hampton so her representative, Francis Leach, laid her wreath, without incident.
Both Daniel and Wilson then headed to the Elwood foreshore for the third Anzac Day ceremony of the day at 8.30am in front of the Elwood Sailing Club.
Liberal candidate Tim Wilson was also at the Elwood Sailing Club ceremony. Credit: Wayne Taylor
Elwood is just outside of the Goldstein electorate but both politicians still attended to hear kids from Elwood Primary School read a poem and sing the national anthem before the last post was played.
Daniel was called on to lay a wreath but as Wilson is no longer an elected representative, he was relegated, alongside Liberal candidate for Macnamara, Benson Saulo, to the section of “anybody else who has a wreath to lay, please lay a wreath”.
Wilson and the Liberal candidate for Macnamara Benson Saulo lay a wreath together at the sailing club event.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Daniel and Wilson then headed to Bentleigh for a 10am ceremony where both candidates were called on separately to lay wreaths.
Daniel was seated in the front row and Wilson had to make do with being a few rows back but all went smoothly.
The MP had one further Anzac Day service scheduled, 1pm at the Black Rock Sports Club, and not to be outdone, Wilson also made it along to that one, bringing his tally to five services in one day. One more than Daniel.
Independent MP Monique Ryan and Liberal challenger Amelia Hamer finally shared a stage for the first time on Thursday night in a tightly controlled candidates’ forum in Kooyong, with both women seeking to shore up support from the electorate’s now-increased Jewish community.
The event was hosted at Bialik College by a coalition of Jewish organisations, including Zionism Victoria and the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, and had none of the theatrics of the Friends of the ABC forum at Kew library on Wednesday, which descended into chaos after far-right agitators gatecrashed the event, prompting one woman to throw a punch at one of the protesters.
Amelia Hamer (left) and Monique Ryan.Credit: Justin McManus
Organisers of the Jewish forum confirmed the AFP were in attendance after the drama of the previous night’s events.
Following a redistribution that abolished the neighbouring seat of Higgins, Kooyong’s boundaries this election now include a larger proportion of Jewish voters.
“Nearly 5000 Jewish voters now live within this electorate – a four-fold increase,” noted moderator Lillian Klein.
Hamer, who has skipped three previous public debates in Kooyong (including two this week), appeared at ease throughout the 90-minute event, delivering well-rehearsed lines and drawing regular applause from the crowd. Ryan was more reserved, opening cautiously but gaining confidence during the discussion.
The crowd at the forum at Bialik College on Thursday night.Credit: Justin McManus
The forum was tense at times, but civil. The two candidates barely addressed one another directly. Among the audience of over 200 people were a handful of supporters wearing Monique Ryan and Liberal-branded shirts.
A few attendees wore “Repeal the Teal” T-shirts – an initiative of the Jewish activist network J-United, which is affiliated with the right-wing lobby group Advance Australia. The campaign has been active in so-called “teal”-held electorates and has distributed material critical of independents, including Ryan, at pre-poll booths this week.
Hamer used her opening remarks to criticise the Albanese government’s response to antisemitism following the October 7 Hamas attacks, accusing it of failing to provide “moral leadership”. She said some Jewish voters in the electorate had shared with her their “escape plans” to leave the country if the situation worsens.
MP Monique RyanCredit: Justin McManus
“We can say this is bad … but in the end we need action,” Hamer said, calling for greater enforcement of existing hate speech laws and stricter visa rules. “People don’t have a right to live in this country on a visa if they’re engaging in vile antisemitic conduct.”
Ryan defended her record on action against antisemitism, pointing to her support for legislation against hate speech and doxxing, and her calls for stronger protections for Jewish students on university campuses. “[But] we haven’t stood up early or hard enough,” she said.
One of the forum’s sharpest moments came when Ryan was asked whether she would consider “negotiating with the Greens” in the event of a hung parliament. She took the opportunity to refute the basis of the idea, saying independents can only “negotiate” with a major party to provide supply.
Amelia Hamer.Credit: Justin McManus
“I will not be negotiating with the Greens,” she said. “They are not going to be in the room … They’re not a party of government.”
Later in the evening, she also defended her decision to co-sign a letter calling for the restoration of humanitarian aid to Gaza via UNRWA, the United Nations relief agency. She said the intention was to ensure starving children received assistance, not to support Hamas.
“I won’t apologise for wanting to provide humanitarian aid to children who are dying,” she said, while acknowledging that the agency had “deeply problematic” elements. Ryan said she had since written to the government urging it to explore alternative aid delivery mechanisms, including Australian-backed medical charity Project Rozana.
Hamer had previously said the letter was “effectively calling for Australian taxpayers to fund Hamas terrorists”.
The two candidates at the forum on Thursday night.Credit: Justin McManus
Both candidates said they supported a two-state solution in the Middle East, but neither backed unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Ryan said such negotiations were not currently possible due to the lack of a legitimate governing authority in Gaza. Hamer said now was “not the right time” for recognition.
Hamer reiterated her belief that a change of government in Australia was needed to restore trust and safety. “Australia is a wonderful country, but we’re going to have to fight for it,” she said.
Ryan said she had learned from past missteps and hoped to continue representing Kooyong.
“If I remain your representative for Kooyong after this election, that’s what I’ll try to do,” she said. “I believe that leaders seek to heal divisions, not to stoke them.”
Zahid Merchant has taken two weeks off work leading up to election day for one purpose: to show up daily at the Broadmeadows pre-polling station and persuade fellow Muslims in Wills to vote Labor out.
A volunteer with Muslim Votes Matter, Merchant was in Broadmeadows on Thursday in a high-vis vest bearing the group’s name, handing out how-to-vote cards — as he has done since pre-polling began on Tuesday.
He says he will continue until election day.
Volunteer Zahid Merchant handing out Muslim Votes Matter flyers at Broadmeadows prepoll booth.Credit: Justin McManus
Muslim Votes Matter is targeting three electorates in Victoria: Wills, neighbouring Calwell (including Broadmeadows, Roxburgh Park and Craigieburn), and Bruce in the south-east (which includes Dandenong, Narre Warren and Berwick).
Once, Wills was among the safest Labor seats in the country. In 1983, Bob Hawke won it with 74 per cent of the vote. Today, Labor’s Peter Khalil holds Wills by just 4.6 per cent over the Greens.
Even as the seat’s southern suburbs, like Brunswick, swung to the Greens, Labor long relied on the northern strongholds of Fawkner, Hadfield and Glenroy. Not any more.
Labor MP Peter Khalil talking to voters at a pre-polling station.Credit: Paul Jeffers
Roughly 10 per cent of voters in Wills are Muslim. The electorate spans 11 kilometres from North Fitzroy and North Carlton in the south – where some booths return Greens primaries as high as 63 per cent – to suburbs near the Metropolitan Ring Road in the north.
Most Muslim voters are concentrated at Wills’ northern edge. And that is where Muslim Votes Matter has focused its efforts, doorknocking for months in Fawkner, Hadfield and Glenroy.
It has also been at train stations distributing material urging Muslims to abandon Labor, and — perhaps most crucially — it has been present at mosques, especially during Ramadan in March.
Many Australian Muslims believe the Albanese government has failed to speak out strongly enough on Israel’s actions in Gaza and on rising Islamophobia in Australia.
“Wills for us is a very clear example of how this government has ignored the issues our community is concerned about,” says Ghaith Krayem, the national spokesman for Muslim Votes Matter.
And no issue is of greater concern than the attacks on Gaza. As of Thursday, the Associated Press reported that more than 51,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – had been killed since Israel’s post-October 7 offensive began.
Muslim Votes Matter’s how-to-vote cards urge voters to “stand against genocide”, recommending in Wills that the Greens’ Samantha Ratnam be ranked above Khalil.
Greens candidate for Wills Samantha Ratnam campaigning for early votes.Credit: Paul Jeffers
Ratnam has been outspoken on the issue, repeatedly stating since she began campaigning last April that Labor must “show leadership and show strength in the face of a genocide in Gaza”.
Krayem says his group’s volunteers are especially focused on visiting mosques in Wills each Friday.
“We’ll be out there again tomorrow,” he said on Thursday. “We are confident that we are in touch with the sentiment on the ground in the Muslim community, and not just Muslims but the community in general, a great many of whom are in step with the views that we are espousing.”
The Age asked Krayem whether all Muslim voters would be comfortable supporting the Greens’ policies on, for instance, gender and sexuality.
“We will never find a candidate that aligns with all of our faith-based values,” Krayem said. “And a genocide is not about faith. We will continue to deal with the Greens and all parties on a range of issues – but the No.1 issue at the moment for us is genocide.”
Asked about the Muslim Votes Matter campaign supporting Ratnam, Khalil bristles. He said during an interview with The Age earlier this month that it was “based on the false premise that the Labor government has not done enough.
A pamphlet attacking Labor’s Peter Khalil which he singled out as including a doctored image. “It’s me actually ripping a piece of paper that says ‘Cut HECS debt’”
“The Labor government’s been criticised by the Jewish community — not all, but some — for being anti-Israel. It has been criticised by Muslim Votes Matter for not doing enough. The Australian government has voted multiple times for a ceasefire at the United Nations, has worked with the international community, [has] provided the aid and development assistance necessary, has stood firm behind international law. [Foreign Minister] Penny Wong [backed] international tribunals and has called for that adherence to the protection of innocent civilians again and again and again.”
Khalil says there is a clear distinction between the facts of what the government has done and the political attacks being directed at him.
“I’m not interested in the politics of this. I’m interested in representing my community members, the Muslim Australian community members, the people who are needing assistance, who need help [and for me to be] their voice, which I have done within government.”
And the MP says there is “a lot of misinformation and disinformation” being distributed by Muslim Votes Matter and by another group in the electorate, Vote Palestine Wills, particularly a flyer titled “Your Labor MP is supporting genocide”, above a doctored image showing him tearing up a leaflet.
“That shows me ripping up a piece of paper that says ‘Free Palestine’. That is a doctored image – it’s me actually ripping a piece of paper that says ‘Cut HECS debt’. What is disturbing about it is that you have supporters of my political opponents who are quite happy to push such disinformation and misinformation, and other distortions.”
It’s been 23 days since I started my efforts to interview the Liberal candidate for Bruce, Zahid Safi.
I’ve tried calling and texting his personal mobile, his campaign manager and Liberal Party HQ – to no avail.
I’ve sent 12 texts to Safi, one message to his campaign Facebook page, four emails to Liberal party HQ and countless calls – each time asking for an interview as I cover the Bruce electorate this election.
I’ve visited his campaign office in Berwick to find it unattended, and left my contact details at Liberal MP for La Trobe Jason Wood’s office next door. Crickets.
I turned up to Safi’s campaign launch three weeks ago, only to be told to vacate the premises by one of his volunteers before he even turned up.
I spent 8.5 hours at the Dandenong prepoll booth yesterday, hoping for a chance to ask straightforward questions of the man who wants to enter parliament.
His army of volunteers avoided my eye contact and gave vague answers to my questions, and ultimately, he didn’t show up.
The post on Julian Hill’s Facebook page.Credit: Facebook
Labor MP Julian Hill has challenged him to a debate, but similarly hasn’t heard back, and today released “missing” posters on social media. “Where is the Liberal Party hiding him?” the Facebook post reads.
But today, I was told he’d been spotted at the Narre Warren South polling station around 11.30am so I dropped my late breakfast at a Lebanese bakery in Hallam and zoomed over to meet him.
I found Safi at the entrance wearing chinos and a blue shirt so I quickly parked the car and walked with pace down the pavement to say hello. As I approached, one blue-shirted volunteer yelled out “hey!” to warn of my arrival.
Safi crossed the road, and started walking in the opposition direction, but I followed – camera in hand.
“Hi Zahid! I’m a journalist with The Age.”
Zahid Safi spotted at a Narre Warren South polling station on Thursday.Credit: Charlotte Grieve
A man wearing a fedora, shorts and a white-buttoned shirt and tie followed Safi and responded: “Yeah Charlotte. I know who you are. How are ya?”
I explained I’d been trying to get in touch with Safi for weeks. “Why have you been dodging my media requests?”
Safi had this to say: “Cost of living is a huge issue. We’ve been talking to voters and getting in touch with them. Cost of living and meeting as many voters as possible.”
I then asked about the recent scandals engulfing his campaign, like his family’s NDIS businesses that uses fake reviews, stock images and inaccurate corporate records.
“What about your wife’s business that uses fake reviews? What do you have to say to that?”
Liberal candidate Zahid Safi (right) and his minder.Credit: Charlotte Grieve
Safi dodged the question: “See, the people are concerned about cost of living and that is what we’re focused on.”
As Safi began getting into a car, I asked about Labor senator Jana Stewart calling for an investigation into his businesses.
The fedora-wearing minder tried to keep things positive: “We can talk. We are polite. We can talk. Jump out, mate, jump out.”
Safi climbed back out of the car, smiling.
“What do you say to voters concerns about the legitimacy of your businesses? Why does it use fake reviews?” I asked.
The minder chimed in again: “They’re more interested in crime, aren’t they?”
Safi followed the prod: “Crime is a huge issue and they’re more interested in crime, cost of living. Labor has neglected the people of Bruce.”
I kept pushing. “But I’m asking about your business. There are serious questions. Labor has referred you for an investigation. What do you say about the use of fake reviews? Stock images? … What’s going on with that?”
Safi didn’t budge. “People are concerned more about cost of living, crime in Bruce, that’s what Labor has neglected. And that’s why we will be coming and getting Australia back on track. Thank you.”
He then got back in the car and said voters needed him. I asked about his former campaign manager Andrew McNabb, who resigned his Liberal Party membership after revelations in this blog about his offensive online comments about women.
Safi closed the car door.
“Why haven’t you been answering my questions this whole campaign?” I asked into the street.
“We’ve been answering them now!” the minder said as he jumped in the car and drove away.
It’s an odd strategy for a candidate trying to flip a historically safe Labor seat. From the beginning I’ve explained that I’m covering the electorate, and would like to learn more about Safi, see how he’s engaging with the community, and be invited to any events in which he was participating.
The urn was boiled, the nibbles laid out at the back of the room, and the conversation had turned to the percentage of the federal budget spent on the ABC when things took a dramatic turn.
Kooyong MP Monique Ryan had just remarked that the national broadcaster’s annual budget was “about as much as we spend on keeping 100 refugees on Nauru and PNG” when a man’s voice suddenly bellowed from the back of the room.
“We’re just here to ask about immigration and crime,” he said.
In a room at the Kew Library filled with civic-minded locals waiting to hear from the Kooyong candidates about the state of the media, the arrival of the three unexpected men disrupted the calm.
Leading them was a bald man with a goatee, wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the logo of the “Australian Workers Alliance” – a self-described nationalist organisation whose mission includes the “preservation of Western culture and identity”. One of the other men wore a leather jacket and filmed the room with his phone – a dead giveaway that the goal was to capture a viral “gotcha” moment. The third man, dressed in a grey hoodie and sneakers, loitered nearby with his hands in his pockets as back-up.
An unsuspecting convener approached the man and asked if he had registered. He said yes – then launched into his tirade.
Matt Trihey at the forum at Kew Library on April 23.Credit: Rachael Dexter
“I want to know when political crime will address the correlation between immigration and crime. When will the politicians address it?
“We have an unprecedented correlation between immigration and crime. When will the politicians address it? You are putting our people at risk,” he boomed, pointing his finger at the candidates: Ryan, Jackie Carter from the Greens, and Clive Crosby from Labor. Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer was a no-show.
With no security guard present and the room stunned, things quickly escalated.
“This is not the forum for that!” one man shouted.
But the agitator – later identified by The Age as Matt Trihey, an associate of neo-Nazis who denies being a neo-Nazi himself – only roared louder. “This is something these people need to answer because the people are being put at risk,” he bellowed.
“Get out of here,” another man yelled. “Rack off, rack off.”
Trihey responded: “Address it, address it. Are you all too scared to address it?” The three candidates, along with MC Jennifer Bowen, sat in silence as several female organisers attempted to usher Trihey out, one pulling at his arm.
“Don’t touch me,” he screamed. “We are governed by parasites! It’s the biggest issue of our time and politicians are ignoring it.”
By now, Ryan had stood up with the microphone, clearly weighing whether and how to respond.
Trihey began ranting about rising rape rates. At that moment, a clearly distressed woman seated near the front, hands over her ears, let out a blood-curdling scream.
Still, Trihey kept ranting. Other attendees yelled, “f— off!” The woman screamed again. Others tried to calm her down.
A group of women – including Bowen and organisers from ABC Friends – were now actively trying to remove Trihey, but he pushed through them. The room erupted into a cacophony of yelling. Then, the woman who had screamed stormed to the back of the room
“Excuse me, please!” she said, politely nudging aside onlookers before raising her fist and attempting to strike Trihey in the face. Organisers quickly got between them, trying to calm the woman. Ryan moved to console her.
The meeting was interrupted, then devolved into chaos.Credit: Rachael Dexter
Ryan then asked Greens candidate Jackie Carter to call the police.
Trihey, grinning at the chaos, kept shouting.
“We are the working class, we are the working class,” he yelled.
Eventually, the trio began moving towards the exit. I attempted to ask them who they were and what organisation they represented, but Trihey’s cameraman turned his back. The woman inside screamed again.
Laughing, Trihey said: “I hope I haven’t spoiled your evening, guys. I just want answers!
“I want to go to bed at night and not worry about home invasions.”
An older woman gave Trihey a final shove out the door, to which he responded: “I’m very fragile … have a great day, guys!”
He continued yelling through the sliding doors until an organiser finally closed them.
Outside, I spoke with the trio. Trihey gave his name, but the other two refused. They denied being members of a political party, saying only that they were affiliated with Trihey’s outfit.
A few moments later, the police arrived.
Back inside, Bowen worked to calm the shaken room. One attendee led a brief relaxation exercise.
“If you need to wiggle in your chairs or put your arms in the air or take your feet on the ground, do whatever you need to, because we’re not here to talk about neo-Nazis right now,” she said.
The forum continued for another 40 minutes, including a debate about legislation on social media access for minors and the need for stronger misinformation regulation.
Afterwards, I caught up with Ryan. She said she had spoken to the woman who attempted to hit Trihey, but organisers told me the woman was still quite distressed by the incident.
Ryan also appeared on ABC Radio Melbourne earlier today for a debrief with host Brett McLeod.
“I think the thing that really distressed some of the members of the audience is they started shouting about rape and women’s rape. It was all a bit incoherent, but it was threatening, and it was really unfortunate, because many members of the audience who are a little bit older [were] really taken aback by the events and clearly a bit threatened by them.”
Ryan, also bewildered by the scene, described the moment involving the older woman.
“She was a little lady, pretty frail, and he was not a small man, and I was really concerned about that, and their potential for that to escalate, where he did give her a push or something like that.”
She said the woman was “a bit horrified by the whole thing”, telling Ryan she’d been “really enjoying the event” and found it “a really worthwhile thing”.
“She was really, really angry at these gentlemen for disrupting as they did,” said Ryan.
I tried to contact the woman today, but organisers said she was too distressed to respond.
Despite the drama, Ryan said community groups should not be deterred from holding forums, something the organisers of last night’s event agreed with. Next time, they’ll book a security guard.
“We shouldn’t be silenced by right-wing nut bags,” said Ryan. “Essentially, we should continue to have these forums and enjoy the democracy that we’re so lucky to have.”
A docile candidates’ forum about public broadcasting, at a library in Kooyong, descended into chaos on Wednesday evening after far-right agitators gatecrashed the event, prompting one woman to throw a punch at one of the protesters.
Kooyong MP Monique Ryan personally intervened to stop attendees getting into physical altercations after a frustrated female attendee tried to punch one of the agitators in the face. It’s the second such disruption at a forum in Kooyong this week.
Ryan was speaking alongside Greens candidate Jackie Carter and Labor candidate Clive Crosby to a crowd of about 60 people at Kew Library at the event convened by Friends of the ABC to discuss the state of the media in Australia and ABC funding. Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer was invited but did not attend.
About half an hour into the discussion, three men entered the room, and one – who later identified himself to The Age as Matt Trihey – began shouting about immigration causing crime, knife crime, political donations and home invasions.
“You people are destroying this country because you will not address civic safety,” he shouted.
Attendees at the event started yelling at the men to leave. One woman approached Trihey and attempted to punch him in the face before other attendees intervened – including Ryan.
The woman appeared distraught after the incident and was quickly comforted by Ryan and others.
Trihey was flanked by two other men – one of whom who was filming – who did not give their identities to The Age.
The trio were eventually shepherded out after about eight minutes when police arrived. Trihey is trained in martial arts and was a member of the Lads Society, founded by neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell, but has since denied being a neo-Nazi himself.
Police were called to the forum about 6.30pm after protesters disrupted proceedings.Credit: Rachael Dexter
Earlier this year, Trihey and his self-described “nationalist” group, the National Workers Alliance, gatecrashed a Chinese celebration in Box Hill, which was filmed and praised by neo-Nazi Joel Davis as “solid work”.
Trihey also drew attention at this year’s Australia Day rally alongside white supremacist Blair Cottrell, and last year when he opened an anti-transgender rights rally on the steps of Victoria’s parliament.
Marion Crooke, an organiser of the Kew event, said the three men entered during proceedings while the front door was unlocked and the registration table unmanned.
“I asked him if he had registered, he said yes – I had no opportunity to check,” she said. Crooke said she hadn’t considered the event might need security, and was shocked by the events that transpired.
Afterwards, we spoke to Ryan who said she didn’t feel any personal threat against her, but had been concerned about the distress caused to the attendees.
“They weren’t expecting that sort of interruption, and it was upsetting [for them],” she said.
Ryan asked Greens candidate Jackie Carter to call the police.
“I was concerned for them. I was also concerned that things could potentially get out of hand if someone felt the need to [physically] intervene,” she said. “It’s unfortunate … I’ve not heard of that sort of thing [happening at other forums].”
A Victoria Police spokesman said officers were called to the event about 6.30pm.
“Officers spoke to the men and at this stage no further complaints have been made to police. The investigation is ongoing,” he said.
Labor senator Jana Stewart has fired off letters calling for an investigation into Liberal candidate for Bruce Zahid Safi’s NDIS businesses after reporting in this blog.
Yesterday, we brought you news of the curious case of Safi and his wife’s business empire – which includes NDIS businesses that publish fake reviews, stock images and inaccurate corporate records.
Stewart, a member of parliament’s joint standing committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, clearly read the stories because she fired off a letter today detailing the allegations and calling for a multi-pronged investigation.
The registered address for Infinite Community Supports, whose website hosts fake reviews.Credit: Charlotte Grieve
Her letter was addressed to NDIA chief executive Rebecca Falkingham, but copied in were AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw, ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant and ACCC chairperson Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
“Dear Ms Falkingham,
“I refer to the enclosed media report published by The Age on 22 April 2025 (the report) in relation to several businesses owned by or linked to Mr Zahid Safi.
“The report is deeply concerning. It raises serious questions about whether three NDIS businesses owned by, or linked to, Mr Safi are genuine NDIS providers and, if so, the standard of care provided to vulnerable participants being services by Mr Safi’s businesses …”
Stewart writes that “given the range of possible offences across multiple Commonwealth statutes”, she considers it appropriate to bring the issues to the attention of key agencies for investigation.
Senator Jana Stewart.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Stewart’s letter singles out three of Safi and his wife’s NDIS businesses – Willow Support Services, Casey Care Services and Infinite Community Supports – as requiring scrutiny.
The letter says NDIS providers should act with “honesty, integrity and transparency” and questions whether the use of fake reviews, stock images and outdated addresses across these businesses meet that standard.
“Willow Support … appears to have its registered office at an address it does not occupy,” she writes.
A Liberal source told The Age yesterday that Safi has “no role” in one business, Infinite Community Supports, but Safi’s mobile number is listed on the company’s website, and Stewart queried whether accurate information had been provided in the registration process.
“The report raises serious questions about the quality of the initial registration audit and subsequent audits,” she wrote.
“In light of the deeply concerning matters raised in the report, I urge … a thorough investigation of these three NDIS providers.”
The Liberal Party has so far stood by its candidate.
After declining to answer detailed questions about Safi’s many businesses, a spokesperson issued a statement on Tuesday: “Like many small business owners, Zahid acknowledges that his administrative paperwork isn’t always up to date and has taken steps with his accountant to rectify [this].”
The Liberal Party was contacted for comment about Stewart’s push for an investigation today. I sent Safi a full copy of the letter, and called and texted to see if he wanted to respond, but didn’t hear back.
Minister for Social Services and the NDIS Amanda Rishworth said she was aware that a referral had been made for the issue to be investigated: “The reports about the Liberal candidate for Bruce’s NDIS businesses are concerning …
“Ensuring the integrity of the NDIS – and the quality and safety of participants – is something our government has prioritised.”
