Victoria’s only One Nation MP says she had no idea a political billboard in her electorate would carry messaging she deemed “unsuitable”.<\/p>\n
Since December, One Nation has installed at least three anti-immigration billboards in Mildura in Victoria’s north-west, Stawell in the west and Bairnsdale in the east.<\/p>\n
Each uses bold-face type to blame the ongoing rental crisis on high immigration.<\/p>\n
Northern Victoria MP Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell said while it was true Australia faced a rental crisis, it was not an appropriate message for her region, which relies heavily on immigrant workers.<\/p>\n
“I knew a billboard was going up, I just didn’t know what was going to be on it,” Ms Tyrrell said.<\/p>\n
“Had it been up to me, that sign wouldn’t have been there with that wording, that’s for sure.”<\/p>\n
Ms Tyrrell said the signage was tied to federal election campaigning and was not actioned at a state level, despite the Mildura billboard appearing in her electorate.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell says she did not know what the signs would say until they were installed. (Supplied: Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell)<\/p>\n
“Because I didn’t have anything to do with it, I didn’t think too much about it,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I’m flat out as a state member representing my constituents, [so] when it comes to a campaign I’m not directly involved in, it’s not necessary to dedicate my time to them when I’ve got my own constituents and work to do.<\/p>\n
“I think that sign needs to be removed and something more suitable for the region needs to be put up.”<\/p>\n
The party’s billboards in Mildura and Bairnsdale were removed after several months, according to advertising company Gawk, with the third in Stawell to be removed next week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The federal One Nation branch declined to comment.<\/p>\n
‘The first of many’<\/p>\n
In a social media post late last year, One Nation’s Victorian state president Warren Pickering said the Mildura billboard would be “the first of many”.<\/p>\n
Ms Tyrrell said there was no divide between the state and federal branches of One Nation with regard to its messaging.<\/p>\n
She said she agreed with the billboard’s overall rhetoric, but that regional Victoria wasn’t the right place for the signage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Warren Pickering posted on social media that the billboards, such as this one in Mildura, were promoting One Nation values. (Facebook: Warren Pickering)<\/p>\n
“I wouldn’t be campaigning that message in those areas that do rely on it [immigration],” she said.<\/p>\n
“[The slogan is intended for] definitely more metropolitan areas, generally.”<\/p>\n
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said no party should be engaging in such “divisive, hateful behaviour”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“That sort of divisive false claim has no place in Mildura, no place in Melbourne, no place anywhere in this state,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Firstly it’s wrong, it is also divisive \u2026 regional communities deserve better than this rubbish from that outfit, One Nation.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jacinta Allan (right) says anti-immigration billboards have no place in Victoria. (AAP: Joel Carrett)<\/p>\n
Lou Hewitt, the coordinator of the Stawell Neighbourhood House, said the billboard left her speechless.<\/p>\n
“That is a minority view,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Thomas Foods is one of the biggest employers in town, and without the migrant workforce, it simply just wouldn’t exist.<\/p>\n
“If the migrant workforce that come out here, particularly for those working at Thomas Foods were to see it, if that was their first welcome to the town, they’d probably feel quite unloved and probably like they want to leave.<\/p>\n
“I think it speaks volumes that if their own MP is not supporting the messaging, then why is it up there as a billboard?<\/p>\n
“I think it’s inappropriate, full stop.”<\/p>\n
Northern Grampians Shire chose not to provide comment, as it has no jurisdiction or powers over what is and what is not advertised in the area.<\/p>\n
Thomas Foods International declined to comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victoria’s only One Nation MP says she had no idea a political billboard in her electorate would carry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,64457,64461,44,60504,64458,64456,11149,64455,64460,64459],"class_list":["post-86316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-housing-shortage","tag-migrant-workforce","tag-news","tag-one-nation","tag-one-nation-billboard","tag-one-national-immigration","tag-rental-crisis","tag-rikkie-lee-tyrell","tag-thomas-foods","tag-warren-pickering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}