Flyers from Libs and teals go on the attack as election day looms

Competition for the state seats of Hawthorn and Kew is heating up, with the Liberal Party putting flyers in letterboxes in the electorates, saying a vote for a teal independent candidate is a vote to re-elect the Andrews government.

Flyers produced by the Liberal Party, and sent to this masthead today by teal supporters, warn voters in the electorates that electing an independent “helps re-elect Daniel Andrews for a second decade”.

The reverse side of the flyer tells voters: “Don’t wake up this Sunday with a Daniel Andrews hangover. Vote Liberal.”

It is one of the first times the Liberals have openly attacked teal candidates in the state election.

Hawthorn independent Melissa Lowe’s campaign manager, Brent Hodgson, said there had been similar attacks made on teal candidates during May’s federal election.

“If Dan Andrews is re-elected, it’ll be because of 88 Liberals who failed to connect with their electorates – not because of one independent who did,” Hodgson said.

The new material from the Liberal Party follows an attack flyer put into letterboxes by supporters of Lowe over the Liberal Party’s position on logging of Victorian forests.

The flyer says the Liberal Party and Mathew Guy “support the indefinite logging of native forests”, and that a vote for the Liberal Party is “a vote to continue destroying Victoria’s environment”.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.