Row over GetUp’s bananas

WARREN Entsch has accused GetUp of trying to buy the election after workers were spotted handing out bananas, chips and raw sausages along with how-to-vote cards in Aboriginal communities.

The left-wing activist group has mounted a major campaign to roll the Leichhardt MP, with staff joining mobile voting booths to some of the most remote parts of the state.

LNP volunteers have photographed GetUp workers offering free bananas, potato chips and T-shirts to residents who come to vote, along with barbecue packs consisting of sausages, onion and bread.

Mr Entsch said the practice was degrading.

“They’ve been sent up here to coerce First Nations people with bananas, for crying out loud,” he said.

GetUp’s first nations justice campaign director Amy Gordon rejected the claims, saying the effort in Leichhardt was led by Indigenous campaigners.

“Our campaign has always been focused on the issues, not candidates or parties,” she said.