‘Someone will get hurt': Zoe Daniel feared for her safety in toxic election campaign
Zoe Daniel says the harder the struggle gets, the stronger she becomes. That's just her personality.
But it doesn't mean she wasn't shocked, saddened and disappointed that the battle for the seat of Goldstein became so toxic that the former MP feared for her safety and was worried someone was going to attack her home.
Sitting down with The Age for lunch at a cafe in Brighton East in the midst of packing up her electoral office, Daniel said she was, at times, scared for her personal safety during the election.
'I had the Australian Federal Police with me during the last week of the campaign,' she says. 'I was worried someone might attack our house.'
The teal independent lost the seat in Melbourne's south-east to Liberal Tim Wilson by a margin of 175 votes after a recount. The close count further drew out a campaign that had already seen, Daniel says, bad behaviour online spill over into real life.
During the campaign she says people screamed at her on the street calling her a 'c---' and a 'bitch', she reported harassment and stalking to police after a Facebook post identified her car in a private car park behind her electoral office, and she believes she was followed home in one instance.
Daniel says advertising for her campaign did not target Wilson personally and was focused on policy.
'I won't go low, I don't go low,' Daniel says. 'The problem with not going low is that you just go under a barrage of attack.'
Daniel says if voters in the electorate were driving down the highway seeing 'very personal' billboards targeting her, 'some of that will land'.
She says fellow teal Monique Ryan also 'had it pretty hard during the campaign as well'.
'I thought one of us is going to get hurt eventually,' she says.
Wilson said that after having had to make reports to state and federal police during election campaigns, he shared Daniel's concerns about safety.
'There is no place for conduct that makes candidates feel unsafe, and should it occur the best thing to do is report it to the police,' he said.
The campaign in Goldstein featured billboards along the Nepean Highway, trucks driving around and digital advertising calling on residents not to vote for Daniel.
She was also subject to attack ads run by third party proxy groups, including Australians for Prosperity and Repeal the Teal. One, a giant billboard opposite the Kingston City Hall displayed a photo of Daniel's head in a balloon.
'All hot air: Vote for change,' it stated. 'Blocked: Local voices. Disinterested: In local crime. Zero Delivery: On cost of living.'
It was authorised by Australians for Prosperity, headed by former Liberal MP Jason Falinski, who describes himself as Wilson's 'good friend' and was behind Wilson's tilt at the Liberal leadership.
At pre-poll booths, flyers were handed out with a photo of Daniel and the headline: 'Repeal the Teal'. They stated: 'Teals… Not open. Not accountable. Not independent. Not worth it. Put Zoe Daniel last.'
Repeal the Teal is an initiative of the Jewish activist network J-United, with the material authorised by Harriet Warlow-Shill, a Melbourne lawyer who hosted an online event in March headlined, 'Does my teal support terror? One Woman's Journey to find out'.
Warlow-Shill said the Repeal the Teal campaign was not linked to the Liberal Party, and that she resigned as a Liberal Party member in February.
A spokesman for the Liberals said neither Wilson nor the party engaged Australians for Prosperity or Repeal the Teal.
Daniel says much of the abuse towards her was 'opportunistic'.
'If you are a woman, they threaten to rape you or go after your children,' she says. 'As that kind of stuff continued to escalate, then people were getting those disgusting letters in their inboxes saying it was like 1930s Germany. I was really frightened of that.'
The letters were sent anonymously to some residents with Daniel corflutes outside their homes, accusing them of being antisemitic and hating Jews.
They claimed many in the Jewish community were considering their future in Victoria and Australia, and said Daniel's supporters were 'an active participant in our decisions to uproot our families and leave'.
The letters, signed off 'Your Jewish neighbour', said the writers were not connected with any political party.
Goldstein has a large Jewish population, with the latest census data showing 7.1 per cent of residents identify Judaism as their religious affiliation.
The only debate between Daniel and Wilson during the campaign was before members of the local Jewish community at the Brighton Hebrew Congregation, where Wilson wore a yarmulke and declared he was a Zionist.
He criticised Daniel for accepting funding from Climate 200, which he described as 'racist and antisemitic'.
Daniel asked Wilson where his funding had come from and noted that he declared zero dollars in funding after the last election.
'I think it's incredibly unfortunate to see a political party weaponise people's grief and trauma for political gain,' Daniel says. 'I thought it was disgusting.'
Daniel points to her advocacy for the Jewish community during her time as an MP, including helping to organise repatriation flights, establish an antisemitism envoy, introduce stronger laws criminalising hate crimes and support anti-doxxing laws.
During the campaign, Liberal senator James Paterson accused Daniel of 'abandoning' the Jewish community and participating in the 'vilification' of Israel.
'It's just an outright lie, but it's also designed to inflame and, for me, that was at a point where I was starting to feel really concerned,' Daniel says. 'It's really irresponsible. You just shouldn't be saying that.'
Daniel says she is proud of what she and her team achieved in Goldstein and believes the future is bright for the independent and teal movement, even though only eight of the 35 candidates supported by Climate 200 won seats this election.
'The independents got really close in lots of seats,' she says. 'There are various ways to measure success. I mean the presence of those independents now has the Liberal Party on its knees because the Liberal Party had to throw resources at so many seats that it previously would not have had to.'
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Daniel says the independents and teals have delivered a 'massive change' to Australian politics.
'I don't think you can only judge it based on who won and who lost because I think what you need to look at is the erosion of the major parties, and just how that's changing the political landscape.'
Daniel says there is a clear pathway for an independent in the future in Goldstein. 'Will it be me? I'm not sure,' she says. 'Do you want to have a look through my emails? Every single email is 'Please run in 2028', 'Please run in 2028', 'We'll be there', 'We'll be there'.'
Daniel thought she had won on election night and claimed victory at a celebratory party at the Elwood Bowls Club, but a surge in postal votes got Wilson across the line.
She says her supporters are disappointed but also proud and willing to keep going.
'I have the kind of personality where the harder it gets, the stronger I become. Not to say I'm not disappointed and generally pissed off.'
Daniel says anything can happen in the next three years, in terms of domestic politics, international politics and what unfolds for her workwise.
'I am not 'in the foetal position' as the former member described himself after his loss in 2022, and for him to be telling all and sundry that he hopes I 'find peace' is the height of arrogance,' she says. 'His feelings are his own to wrestle with, not mine. I will write my own story and Tim Wilson does not dictate when my chapters begin and end.'
Wilson said he thanked Daniel for her service to the community.
'The election is now over, the people of Goldstein have made their decision. As Australians, we must accept the results of elections and move on,' he said.
Daniel is sanguine about what is next for her.
'I'm not dead,' she says. 'I'm not a career politician, so I've got other options, unlike my predecessor. I've done lots of different things in my life, and I've been really lucky with the opportunities that I have had. So I need to find the right path.'
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