Local candidates in suburban Melbourne are being targeted with racial abuse before Victoria’s council elections.

Jamel Kaur, a council candidate in Victoria’s October state election, told The New Daily that after she discovered the graffiti, she was brought to tears.

“I was disgusted, disappointed and a little bit fearful,” she said.

“I live literally a few kilometres away from it and Mum and Dad freaked out about our safety.”

She said she reported the graffiti to the police at the behest of her parents, who immigrated to Australia from England when she was five years old.

Casey, in Melbourne’s south-east, is a diverse electorate that is home to large Indian, Sri Lankan and Afghan communities.

The 2021 Census revealed about 46.5 per cent of the population within the local government area was born outside Australia.

She said that although she has received many messages of support, people were also highlighting it as a reason they would never run for council.

“It is hard enough being a woman and standing, let alone a woman of colour,” Kaur said.

“For me, in 44 years, this is the worst case of racism that I have experienced personally.”

Normalised abuse

Ezatullah Alam, another candidate in Kaur’s ward, said his signs had been stolen three weeks earlier and made to look like Adolf Hitler.

“I have lived in this area for eight years and haven’t experienced anything like this before,” he said.

“I try to look on the brighter side and know that if we stop, then these people win.”

Multiple candidates in the same ward reported having their campaign signage targeted. Photo: Ezatullah Alam

He said he had also reported the incident to the police.

Research has found that those from diverse backgrounds, particularly women, are more likely to be vulnerable to abuse during local council election campaigns.

“It is therefore of no surprise that women consider dropping out of political contestation as they experience compounding forms of incivility,” a 2022 study said.

“A small, but nonetheless meaningful number of women compared to men cite incivility in their top three reasons for not recontesting the next election in 2024.”

Kaur is the only woman running in her ward, but abuse of elected officials is considered a normal part of politics, according to the research.

“Incivility is omnipresent across municipalities and cohorts within local government in Victoria,” the study said.

“Men and women councillors reported similar levels of generalised incivility, demonstrating the prevalence of this adverse facet of political life.”

Long wait

October will be the first time residents in Casey elections have voted since 2016 after the Andrews government sacked its councillors and placed it into administration in 2020.

It followed Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission launching investigations into alleged corruption involving councillors and property developers.

Kaur said the incident only made her more motivated to run for a seat on Casey’s council.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that I’m Australian,” she said.

“It amplified it for me and if I don’t stand up, who will?”