An elderly Liberal party volunteer has allegedly been pushed over by a Labor volunteer while campaigning in Sydney’s south-west.
Police said a scuffle developed between two men aged in their 60s and 70s outside a pre-poll booth in Ingleburn on Wednesday afternoon.
Macarthur Liberal MP Russell Matheson said he was told the older man, a Liberal volunteer, was shoved by the ALP volunteer.
“I was not at the booth when the incident occurred or at any stage today before the incident, but I do know that Labor is becoming increasingly desperate and aggressive in my local area,” Matheson said on Thursday.
“This kind of behaviour is completely inappropriate and I call on the Labor party to apologise for the behaviour of their volunteer,” he said.
In response, Labor claimed Liberal volunteers removed how-to-vote cards from the hands of voters and verbally harassed a young female volunteer among other incidents at pre-poll booths in the Macarthur electorate.
Labor said it had referred the alleged incidents to the Australian Electoral Commission.
The party said it deplored all threats and violent acts and expected all volunteers to live up to the highest standards of conduct.
Police were called to the scene following the incident but no charges were laid, a police spokeswoman said.
The Liberal volunteer did not suffer any serious injury and is recovering at home.
