Today is the third day of pre-polling in the Victorian state election.
The Victorian branch of the Animal Justice Party and ‘preference whisperer’ Glenn Druery have gone to war in full public view on Twitter, as a row over a preference sting continues.
On Monday, The Guardian reported that the AJP had switched their preferences in the Victorian upper house at the last minute after ‘negotiating’ with Druery for months.
It means parties that worked with Druery will preference the AJP, while the AJP will not preference them in return and instead look towards parties like The Greens, Reason, Legalise Cannabis and the Victorian Socialists.
Victoria’s upper house voting system means parties and groups control preferences if a voter chooses to vote above the line. Voting a minimum of 1-5 below the line gives voters full control over their preferences.
Druery and the AJP have since publicly fought on Twitter, with the AJP’s official Victorian account slamming the “Druery cabal” while Druery hit back by claiming repeatedly that Ben Schultz, the AJP’s state election manager, lied.
Schultz told Druery to “have a sook cunt” in the form of a Simpsons meme, while Restore Democracy Sack Dan Andrews Party founder Tosh-Jake Finnigan also said that Schultz can “suck my whole trans dick and balls.”
Finnigan made the comments because the AJP “sent preferences to the Liberals and Nationals ahead of the only openly non-binary/trans candidate on the ballot.”
Druery repeatedly said that Schultz “lied and decieved” minor parties in Victoria, while the AJP said their new preferences were being directed towards parties that “actually want to make the world a little bit less shit.”
The AJP then claimed that Druery “boasted” about setting up the Legalise Marijuana Party, a party with almost nothing known about it that pulled out of the election after objections from the similarly named Legalise Cannabis Party. They did not provide evidence to back up the claim.
Stuart Grimley, state leader of Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party (which is working with Druery), has now claimed in a statement that the AJP “scammed parties” and has questioned the party’s integrity while citing the voting record of sitting AJP MP Andy Meddick.
The other sitting DHJP MP, Tania Maxwell, has now herself gone on social media to claim preference deals were done by her party’s headquarters without her involvement or agreement. She’s now encouraging voters to vote below-the-line.
Glenn Druery has been contacted by 6 News for an interview after the state election. Andy Meddick, Stuart Grimley and Tosh-Jake Finnigan have all spoken to 6 News during the campaign.
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