A fundraiser has raised more than $250,000 for a Victorian father left hospitalised with serious head injuries after he was allegedly attacked with a baseball bat outside his Torquay home.
The 60-year-old One Nation volunteer reportedly confronted people damaging campaign signs on his property before the alleged assault on Sunday evening.
According to reports, the father suffered multiple facial fractures and bleeding on the brain. His identity is being withheld over concerns for his family’s safety.
The appeal says he faces a lengthy recovery, leaving his family without their only source of income. He operates his own business, and his work vehicle was also badly damaged during the attack.
Donations will go directly to the family to help cover lost income, medical costs and everyday expenses while he recovers, according to the organisers.
Senator Pauline Hanson has also shared the GoFundMe appeal, encouraging supporters to assist the injured man and his family.
News24 reported that the alleged attack occurred after a 14-year-old boy began damaging One Nation signs at the property. The volunteer was allegedly assaulted by the teenager and his father after coming outside.
The outlet reported that the victim’s wife and children witnessed the incident and called police.
In a statement provided to News24, Victoria Police said officers were told two males allegedly assaulted a man with a baseball bat at the property about 7.45pm.
Police arrested a 14-year-old boy from the Casey area and a 37-year-old Hampton Park man. The victim was taken to hospital with injuries police described as non-life-threatening.
According to News24, the adult was charged with intentionally causing injury and other assault-related offences. He was remanded to appear again at Geelong Magistrates’ Court on November 10. The teenager received a caution.
One Nation said it was seeking further information about the incident and expressed concern for the volunteer and his family.
“Political violence of any kind is unacceptable,” a party spokesperson said.
The fundraising organisers have encouraged anyone able to help to contribute, with supporters also urged to share the appeal.
There’s a broader issue here. What do we expect to happen when people are continually encouraged to see their political neighbours as dangerous extremists and Nazis?
The public is coaxed into believing their political opponents threaten their freedom, their families and perhaps even their lives. Stopping them begins to look like a moral obligation. And once you’ve accepted that premise, it becomes much easier to excuse how they’re treated. Who’s going to defend a Nazi?
The alleged attackers’ motives in Torquay have not been established. But we don’t need to know their motives to question rhetoric that makes abuse easier to justify.
Too often, those in positions of power and influence have demonised their political opponents as Nazis while accusing them of hatred. They branded them dangerous extremists while accusing them of intolerance. They accused them of inciting violence while turning a blind eye to those who assaulted and abused them.
Of course, it was projection. They accused their opponents of the very behaviour they excused on their own side, then used those accusations to justify more of it against them. Their accusations weren’t just hypocritical. They helped disguise their own hatred as righteousness.
Politicians and journalists who tell everyone else to “bring the temperature down” should consider what they’re doing when they describe their opponents as extremists and “right-wing terror threats”.
You can oppose One Nation without treating its supporters as enemies. You can argue against a man’s politics without making his family afraid to display a sign outside their home.
A father is now in hospital, and his family faces the loss of their only income while he recovers. They need support. And those in positions of power need to take seriously the responsibility that comes with telling the public whom to fear and hate.
Because it’s increasingly obvious to many that the Left have demonised their political opponents to the point where, to some, violence against the Right seems not only justified but necessary.
If you would like to donate, you can do so here.