Nine years to the day after the Yes vote, homophobic graffiti covers the office of the MP who led it

Police are investigating after homophobic graffiti was sprayed on the electorate office of Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, on the day Australia marked nine years since it voted Yes to marriage equality.

The graffiti covered the outside walls and windows of the independent member’s office on Oxford Street, Surry Hills, in Sydney’s inner east. Police received reports of it at about 12pm AEDT on Sunday.

“A crime scene has been established, and investigators are reviewing CCTV and conducting inquiries to identify the people involved,” NSW Police said in a statement. No arrests have been reported.

What did Greenwich say?

Greenwich said the attack had been deeply distressing for his staff and for him. He said he had received written threats, phone abuse and abuse on social media before, but never anything like this.

In a social media post he said no one should face that kind of hatred at work, “especially on the 9th anniversary” of the Yes vote. He said that if the aim was to intimidate him, it had the opposite effect, and that he was more determined than ever to make Sydney and New South Wales safer, fairer and more equal.

Why does the date matter?

On 15 November 2017, the result of the national postal survey was announced: 61.6 per cent of Australians who took part voted Yes to same-sex marriage. Greenwich was one of the leaders of the Yes campaign, and Parliament legalised same-sex marriage within weeks.

Greenwich has represented the seat of Sydney, which takes in Oxford Street, the heart of the city’s LGBTIQ community, since 2012.

Who else has spoken?

Allegra Spender, the federal independent member for Wentworth, said she was disgusted and appalled and called the attack vile. “There is no place for homophobia or hate in our community, and certainly not in Australian politics,” she said, adding that the attack was designed to intimidate and harm.

Is this part of a wider pattern?

Threats against Australian politicians have been in the spotlight since federal independent MP Helen Haines was badly hurt in a car attack in October. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett has said there is a direct correlation between inflammatory political discourse and threats against MPs.

NSW Labor MP Jodie Harrison said last month that the Haines attack brought back memories of the death threats slipped under her own door nine years ago.

Greenwich has spoken publicly about years of online abuse, including death threats police treated as credible.

VNN will update this story as more is confirmed.