By Cam Lucadou-Wells and Violet Li
Casey Council candidates have called out racist and gender hatred that have marred their election campaigns.
Quarters Ward candidate Kuljeet Kaur Robinson said almost all of her campaign posters had been incessantly defaced and removed in the past six weeks.
People wrote “RISK” and “Don’t vote for this b****” on her posters, according to Ms Robinson.
“It happens again and again, and we’re cleaning again and again,” she said.
“I don’t know why somebody would do that. People don’t know me very well. I’m standing first time for the council.”
She said she even received a call from one of the supporters who said someone damaged his car with graffiti.
“He requested me to take my defaced poster off his fence as he was very scared,” she said.
“These posters were displayed in compliance with all local regulations and campaign guidelines. The removal and defacing of my posters (again and again) is not only an inconvenience but also an obstruction of my right to fair participation in the political process.
“I feel like some people are targeting me deliberately, and it is affecting my mental health and my family life.”
Ms Robinson said she felt threatened and had already planned to move out of the area if she did not get elected.
Waratah candidate Jamel Kaur Singh called for community ‘unity’ after her election sign was defaced with racist hate speech in Hallam.
It struck the heart of the Waratah Ward independent candidate, who has written children’s books and run school sports programs in the name of unity.
On the sign, her photograph was scrawled with the words: “Australia is for Australians / Go home and fix your own c*ntryy(sic)!!”
Initially, it filled Singh with shock and fear. Now she said she felt “a bit angry”.
“This is exactly why I want to be a councillor. I want to close the disparity gap and create unity through diversity.”
The vandalism was fuelled by “unconscious bias and stereotyping that’s becoming worse and not better”, Ms Singh said.
“That’s the sort of stuff we need to stamp from our community.
“It’s hard running (for election) as a woman of colour but I didn’t expect this.”
Ms Singh has lived in Australia for 44 years, after arriving as a four-year-old with her family from England.
Her family set up Australia’s first multifaith association in Adelaide in the 1980s and were flown around the world by the Department of Foreign Affairs to promote the cause.
She’s also since volunteered for the Australian Defence Force Reserve.
“You can’t get more Australian than that,” she said.
“I’m what an Australian looks like, I breathe Australia, I’m an Australian in every sense of the word.”
Ms Singh has written a series of children’s books The World is Our Playground, designed to be used in primary schools.
It tells of the adventures of two children of diverse backgrounds from Melbourne who travel to far-flung places in Vietnam, France, the Philippines, Greece as well as meeting a First Nations elder on Stradbroke Island.
“My aim is to celebrate diversity and empower our kids to see themselves represented in the books they’re reading.”
She decided to run for council to “help articulate the grass-roots community needs at a council level”.
Residents had been most concerned about safety – physically and psychologically, she said.
She said there was also a role for sports and community education – where kids were taught “consequences” and parents were taught to be responsible for their kids.
“I’d love to be promoting more unity. That’s an important part of Casey, and Australia as well.”
Ezatullah Alam, also a Waratah Ward candidate, was shocked to see his election poster defaced with Nazi symbols several weeks ago.
The ALP candidate’s face was altered with a textured-on Adolf Hitler hairstyle and moustache.
“This was very sad because I believe there is no space for such things in our community.”
“Even though we all have different affiliations, different opinions when it comes to politics, but going to that extreme, I think that’s unacceptable.
“They’re not only hurting my feelings, they’re hurting the feelings of the whole community.”
“There needed to be an awareness campaign in the community to say, ‘this is not acceptable’”, Mr Alam said.
Casey could also run more “social cultural events” open to all, regardless of religion or background.
“We should be encouraging, doing something good for the community instead of spreading hatred or racism based on race, religion or ethnicity – I think there is no space in this community for these sorts of behaviours.
“If I’m elected, I’ll definitely be working for [towards] more acceptable behaviour, respectful behaviour; not saying that this will completely go away since we are all human beings at the end of the day.”
