Before Australia’s newly-elected prime minister Anthony Albanese was even sworn into office, members of the nation’s populist anti-lockdown “freedom” movement had begun to make false claims of election fraud.
Among the earliest were claims made on May 18, from failed candidates Steve Dickson and Rebecca Lloyd, both of whom have a penchant for flirting with a sprawling variety of libertarian conspiracy theories. On social media, both candidates shared footage of phone calls between voters—thought to be supporters of “freedom-friendly minor parties”—and staffers at the Australian Electoral Commission, who mistakenly shared incorrect senate voting advice.
Outraged and emboldened, it was all the base needed to flood various platforms with similarly baseless claims—and even take it upon themselves to harass AEC staff at polling booths around the country.
In one video posted on TikTok, one freedom supporter suggested that election staffers sorting votes at a polling station on the Gold Coast were mishandling ballot papers. Electoral staff, she said, had begun sorting votes before 6p.m. (Australian law actually allows for this). She then went on to harass an AEC staffer, suggesting something nefarious might be happening behind closed doors.
A swarm of other footage shows similar instances of AEC staff harassment. (VICE has not been able to independently verify all footage depicting harassment of AEC staff).
During the days that followed, concerned members of the “freedom”...
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