A volunteer for a Teal Independent has been reported to police after allegedly lashing out at Liberal volunteers for taking up all the best poster spots for their candidate.
The vicious dispute, which was caught on video, erupted after Liberal volunteers arrived early on Thursday to seize the prime spots to display corflutes for their candidate, Anthony Roberts, outside the Lane Cove Council Civic Centre, on Sydney’s exclusive north shore.
When Noel Plumb, a volunteer for Independent candidate Victoria Davidson, arrived at 6.30am, he was incensed to see the best spots gone.
He then allegedly threatened to tear down Mr Roberts’ posters.
That’s when Liberal campaign worker, Ben Collins, began to film Mr Plumb on his phone camera.
A volunteer for a Teal independent has been reported to police for allegedly assaulting a Liberal counterpart as election tensions boiled over between rival campaign workers
When Noel Plumb, a volunteer for Independent candidate Victoria Davidson, arrived at 6.30am, he was incensed to see the best spots were plastered with material promoting Liberal Anthony Roberts
One clip showed Mr Plumb marching up to Mr Collins’ camera angrily yelling, ‘don’t you dare photograph me’ before the screen went black.
Rory Burke, a colleague of Mr Collins, alleged the screen went black because Mr Plumb grabbed the phone.
Mr Plumb had insisted Liberals claiming all the best spots to display corflutes wasn’t fair and wanted some removed.
‘[Mr Plumb] demanded we remove the corflutes and said “I am going to start ripping them and you’ll need physical violence to stop me”,’ Mr Burke alleged to Daily Mail Australia.
‘You can’t just rock up and demand other parties take down their material, that’s not the rules of engagement. The rules are the first people to get there can put their posters wherever they want.
‘If you don’t want to get up early and do the hard work then you won’t get rewarded.’
A second video clip showed Mr Plumb, previously an environmental activist who has also volunteered for the Greens, continuing to argue with the Liberal volunteers.
‘You’ve got to be joking. You’ve got to be joking,’ he said.
‘You’re actually more like seven years old at the moment.’
Mr Plumb then turned to the camera and said ‘are you still photographing me?’
‘Yeah, I’m allowed to, you’re in a public space,’ Mr Collins responded.
‘Go on, take my phone again.’
Liberal volunteers Ben Collins and Rory Burke (wearing blue t-shirts) arrived outside Lane Cove Council chamber early on Thursday to put Anthony Roberts’ posters inn the best spots. Mr Collins (left) filmed rival volunteer Noel Plumb allegedly acting aggressively
Liberal candidate Anthony Roberts (foreground) standing in front of his army of campaign workers
Mr Plumb is a campaign worker for Victoria Davidson, Independent candidate for Lane Cove. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Ms Davidson
‘Mate, you would be the first to object and y’know, you’re just a stupid man.’
Mr Burke said usually the atmosphere between the opposing parties’ volunteers at poling stations is competitive but usually fun.
‘There’s a bit of banter but at the end of the day we give each other a hand packing up,’ he said.
But he branded Mr Plumb ‘demanding, entitled and overly-aggressive’.
NSW Police said in a statement they were investigating a report about ‘an alleged altercation’ outside a community centre in Lane Cove on Thursday at 6.40am.
‘There were no reports of any injuries,’ police said.
‘Inquiries are continuing.’
A spokesperson for Victoria Davidson’s office confirmed in a statement that a ’70 year old’ volunteer was involved in a dispute with two representatives of the NSW Liberal Party ‘over equitable allocation of space for election materials’.
It is understood that volunteer was Noel Plumb.
Mr Plumb was said to be so upset by the interaction with the Liberal volunteers that he called the police.
‘The campaign team has spoken to the volunteer and it has been agreed he will not be taking further part in Victoria’s campaign.’
Daily Mail Australia approached Noel Plumb for comment.
Mr Plumb made headlines back in 2020 after his 12-year battle with a neighbour over a tree was revealed.
Anthony Saba and Noel Plumb’s suburban stoush started in 2008 in East Ryde, in Sydney’s north-west, over a backyard tree.
Mr Plumb made headlines back in 2020 after his 12-year battle with a neighbour over a tree was revealed
Noel Plumb (pictured) hopes an incredible 12-year neighbourhood dispute in Sydney’s suburbs will soon come to an end
Mr Plumb also made the news way back in 2015 when he was denied entry to NSW Parliament because he wore a t-shirt with a koala-friendly slogan on it as part of his environmental activism
Mr Plumb – a retired bush re-generator – called his local council to dob in Mr Saba who was in the process of cutting down large gumtrees in the backyard of his home.
Since then Mr Saba, Mr Plumb and his now ex-wife Jeanette Minifie, and neighbour Stuart Maxwell, were involved in legal action in the NSW Local Court, District Court, Supreme Court and NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunals (NCAT).
The feud’s latest act was heard before NCAT in March, 2020, where the tribunal ruled that a fence instigated by Ms Minifie between her and Mr Maxwell’s home was illegal.
Mr Plumb claimed the battle had taken a ‘huge impact’ and hoped it will soon be put to bed, while Mr Saba told Daily Mail Australia he intends to recoup every cent of the $230,000 he is owed by his neighbourhood nemesis.
Mr Plumb also made the news way back in 2015 when he was denied entry to NSW Parliament because he wore a t-shirt with a koala-friendly slogan on it.
His black and white t-shirt featured a smiling koala on the front, under the words ‘Save our south coast koala’.
On the back were the words ‘save me, save my forest’.
‘These days I wear a koala t-shirt quite constantly, because I am a campaigner on it,’ he said.
Mr Plumb had planned to wear it for the launch of a conservation report in NSW Parliament but was denied access.
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