Sex Party stalled

Australian Sex Party campaigners got more attention than they bargained for from local police on the day of the Higgins byelection, Saturday, December 5.
The party’s candidate for Higgins, Fiona Patten, was pulled over by Prahran police while travelling in her campaign van to a polling station, following complaints about the car’s signage.
The car contained four authorised Australian Sex Party posters and a cardboard sign on its rear. Police said some locals had complained the words ‘sex party’ were offensive.
Sex Party spokesman Dean Beck said the action was unnecessary harassment and held party members up on an important day.
It wasn’t the only hiccup on the campaign trail. Sex Party volunteers were reportedly evicted by the publican of the Orrong Hotel on the night before the byelection for handing out Sex Party how-to-vote-cards.
The Sex Party received 3.26 percent of the primary vote. The Liberal Party’s Kelly O’Dwyer won the seat outright with over 54 percent of the vote.
The Greens, whose candidate was Clive Hamilton, recorded a swing towards them of almost 22 percent.
The Labor Party did not field a candidate.