Australia’s richest person has been spotted handing out meat pies to Liberal voters in a fringe seat that was “seriously threatened” by a popular Teal candidate.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart stepped out of a white SUV in Ryde, on Sydney’s exclusive north coast, on Saturday afternoon, holding a large white box.
The Western Australian billionaire hand-delivered meat pies to Liberal voters to show her support for Lane Cove MP and personal friend Anthony Roberts.
It is not the first time the politician has been handed pies by the magnate, having received a similar care package from Ms Rinehart during the Covid lockdown.
The billionaire, worth an estimated $37 billion, sent the current planning minister a box of artisanal cakes from Adelaide after learning the politician was in isolation.
“Gina sent me a care package. I was sent a box of Kidman Pies from Adelaide,” Mr Roberts told the Sunday Telegraph at the time.
“There was enough here for me to the end.”
Not everyone welcomed the billionaire into voting booths on Saturday, however.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart stepped out of a white SUV in Ryde, on Sydney’s north coast, on Saturday afternoon, holding a large white box (pictured)
The Western Australian billionaire handed out meat pies to Liberal voters in support of MP for Lane Cove and personal friend Anthony Roberts (pictured left on Saturday)
“Ok – not much shocks me with #auspol anymore but I hear Gina Rinehart showed up at a few locations around Lane Cove handing out meat pies to liberal folks in support of Anthony Roberts,” one woman tweeted.
“They must be very concerned. Exceptional.’
Others, however, said it was simply an act of goodwill to thank volunteers.
“Gina Rinehart handed out cakes for the volunteers in the voting booths, not to bribe voters,” another woman tweeted.
“It’s strange to use a billionaire for this role, but it’s absolutely normal for the parties to have lunch for their volunteers on Election Day.”
Mr Roberts said the infamous private billionaire was an ‘old friend of the family’.
“She got in her car and delivered sandwiches and cakes – not just to Liberal class workers, but to all working class people,” he told Sky News.
“Everyone knows that one of the hardest jobs is to be in a cubicle all day, especially when the weather is bad.”
It comes as the MP goes up against popular Independent candidate Victoria Davidson as they compete for the seat of Lane Cove in Sydney’s north.
Gina Rinehart (pictured in 2015) was spotted Saturday hand-delivering meat pies to Liberal voters in support of current MP for Lane Cove Anthony Roberts
It comes as Mr Roberts is up against popular independent candidate Victoria Davidson (pictured) for the seat of Ryde on Sydney’s north coast
Liberal candidate Anthony Roberts (foreground) stood before his army of campaign aides earlier this week
The seat is held by Mr Roberts with just 14 per cent, meaning his hold on the electorate is under serious threat from his Teal opponent.
The battle on Sydney’s north coast has not been without drama, with a volunteer for Ms Davidson reportedly turning himself in to police after lashing out at Liberal supporters.
The vicious dispute, which was caught on video, erupted after Liberal volunteers arrived early Thursday morning to grab the best spots to display corflutes for Mr Roberts outside the Lane Cove Council Civic Centre.
When Noel Plumb, a volunteer for the independent candidate Victoria Davidson, arrived at 6:30 am, he was furious to find that the best spots for posters were gone.
He then allegedly threatened to take down Mr Roberts’ posters, prompting the Liberal campaign worker, Ben Collins, to film the scuffle on his phone.
A clip shows Mr Plumb marching towards Mr Collins shouting angrily ‘don’t you dare shoot me’ before the screen goes black.
When Noel Plumb, a volunteer for Independent candidate Victoria Davidson, arrived at 6.30am, he was furious to see the best spots taken by Liberal posters.
Liberal volunteers Ben Collins and Rory Burke (wearing blue t-shirts) arrived outside the Lane Cove Council room early Thursday to hang Anthony Roberts’ posters in the best spots. Mr Collins (left) filmed rival volunteer Noel Plumb allegedly acting aggressively
Mr Burke claimed to Daily Mail Australia that the angry volunteer had threatened to tear up the posters and said he would not be stopped without ‘physical violence’.
‘You cannot just act and demand that other parties remove their material, those are not the rules of the game. The rules are that the first people to get there can hang their posters wherever they want,” he said.
“If you don’t want to get up early and do the hard work, you won’t be rewarded.”
A spokesman for Ms Davidson’s office confirmed in a statement that a ’70-year-old’ volunteer was involved in a dispute with two NSW Liberal Party representatives ‘over the fair allocation of space for election materials’.
NSW Police said they were investigating a report of “an alleged altercation” outside a community center in Lane Cove at 6.40am on Thursday.
There are no reports of injuries, police said. “Investigations continue.”