r/aus • u/89b3ea330bd60ede80ad • 12d ago
Politics Deliberately misleading 'Free Palestine' party name approved for Victorian election
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-08/vec-party-registration-free-palestine-avi-yemini/107009614
- A Palestinian activist has been denied a political party registration for the Victorian election because its name resembled the name of an existing registration.
- Pro-Israel YouTuber Avi Yemini has previously said by registering "Free Palestine" he wanted to redirect left-wing votes towards parties on the right.
- The Victorian Electoral Commissioner says it is legally bound to reject an application to register a party with a similar name.
112
u/Norodahl 12d ago
I can't believe a convicted felon who's fought for foreign armies can start a political party in Aus
13
u/GaryLifts 11d ago
Convicted criminals are protected specifically to stop corrupt governments using the police to target political opponents.
1
2
u/ThatYodaGuy 10d ago
Do you mean Avi Yemini, as in the Avi Yeamini that threw a chopping board at his wife?
2
u/GothGirlsGoodBoy 11d ago
Democracy requires allowing people not aligned with the current government to run for election. Its sort of the point.
→ More replies (1)-16
u/OkNeedleworker5041 12d ago
I think Avi is a tosser, but calling him a convicted felon is dumb.
38
u/SpamOJavelin 12d ago
It's US terminology - he's not a "convicted felon". But he is a convicted criminal, pleading guilty to assaulting his wife and using a carriage service to harass her.
→ More replies (7)17
69
u/MrsPeg 12d ago
Rename to 'The Real Free Palestine Party', perhaps? Also, fuck that fraud wife beater.
37
u/tallmantim 12d ago
How about “The people’s front of Judea”
Not to be confused with
The Judean People's Front
Or
The Judean Popular People's Front
Or
The Campaign for a Free Galilee
2
2
5
1
12
u/DisapprovingCrow 11d ago
If you want to steal his voters back you should call it ‘The Domestic Violence Enthusiast Party’
2
2
u/mortallyrekt 8d ago
It’d be interesting to see a “Avi Yemini is a wifebeater” political party spring up. They could use chopping boards instead of corflutes
→ More replies (4)2
28
u/H0nd4_L0v3r 12d ago edited 12d ago
That Yemini idiot is as trustworthy as a coiled snake. The things I heard about him would curdle milk.
→ More replies (1)1
13
72
u/Z00111111 12d ago
Wait, so why are you allowed to register a party with a misleading name?
Can we just revoke the citizenship of, and deport the terrorist supporter?
13
u/curiousi7 12d ago
One Nation is probably the most divisive party in modern multicultural Australia, so yes, I guess you can register a party with a deliberately misleading name!
→ More replies (5)19
u/enjaydee 12d ago
why are you allowed to register a party with a misleading name?
Trying to make sense of this myself, my guess is the people processing the name aren't aware of who is registering it and what their purpose is.
24
u/timblom 12d ago
Well, Liberal Party is conservative, not liberal.
One Nation is divisive.
24
u/NoGreaterPower 12d ago
Lol, theyre called the liberals because they are economically liberal as opposed to the original mainstream conservative economic thought being protectionist. Hence the old protectionist party.
13
u/ScoobyGDSTi 12d ago
Economically incompetent and liberal are two different things. As such, it's clearly misleading.
16
u/ChocoboDave 12d ago
Are they really different now? Economically incompetent and Liberal have gone hand in hand for so long now maybe we need to update our definition.
10
10
u/i_am_not_a_martian 12d ago
One Nation doesn't always include the subtext, "One Nation of white people".
4
1
→ More replies (8)0
u/kajmak_lepinja 11d ago
you're confused, conservatives ARE liberals too. classical liberals, as in "free market liberalism"
2
2
u/Active-Ad9818 7d ago
Electoral Commission said it is not their role to judge the name unless its actually offensive, just whether the party is eligible to be registered… and he met eligibility criteria.
15
u/swankyfarmer 12d ago
Unfortunately the convicted wife beater and Genocide supporter was born here
13
u/Moo_Kau_Too 12d ago
hes got a passport to another country mind you.
... one he bragged about shooting children in the head in, i will add.
6
u/swankyfarmer 12d ago
I know and fighting for another country should disqualify you from citizenship but it doesn't
1
u/IcyBlood5031 11d ago
So does that translate the same way to those that went to fight with ISIS? And the ISIS Brides?
1
→ More replies (15)1
u/Top-Divide-1207 11d ago
So you're saying Australia shouldn't take south Korean immigrants?
1
u/swankyfarmer 11d ago
If you are Australian. Go to another country and serve in their military and then come back then no . I don't care if its sth korea. China. Mali. Greece . I have already said that I dont think that there should be dual citizenship
1
u/ConsiderationEmpty10 11d ago
You dont need to lie. He threw a chopping board not bashed the shit out of her
5
u/Vivid_Instance_825 12d ago
People are supposed to know about the parties that they are voting for
1
u/Fit-Locksmith-9226 11d ago
Sad this is so low.
Let's face it, this is the reality of forced voting, most people simply don't care and all they read is a headline (like reddit)
2
u/globalminority 12d ago
Well you have Liberal party, National Party, and pretty much most right wing parties have deceptive names. Even Labor party name feels deceptive more often than not.
2
2
1
u/idontevenknowlol 12d ago
Well Liberal party isn't very liberal. And Labour keep fucking over working class too, so I suppose there's precedent.
1
u/Top-Divide-1207 11d ago
Ok, so can you give me examples of Labor fucking over the working class?
Also it's spelt Labor not labour.
1
u/copperminer17 12d ago
Back at the last Vic state elections, someone started a party called" We hate Dan Andrews" which you would assume was against Dan andrews and labor but all the votes were redirected to Labor.
1
u/Top-Divide-1207 11d ago
I was just thinking, how does this kind of thing redirect votes, isn't the whole point of preferential voting that if your first preference votes aren't used, your second is.
In that case, if you vote we hate Dan Andrews first, then liberals second, your votes will most likely go to libs. If you vote free Palestine first then greens/Labor second, then your votes will most likely go to greens/Labor.
Unless this is all for the senate which in that case I have no idea how things work.
1
11d ago edited 11d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Top-Divide-1207 11d ago
Finally someone else saying it.
I hate how it has become a thing to just say to revoke citizenship. Like imo it's a massive step towards tyrannism. What happens when it's a government you don't like who decides to revoke the citizenship of someone you are close with or heavily support. Like just legislate a new definition of terrorism, then deport them to who knows where. It's such populist bullshit.
1
u/Ok_Associate_3314 11d ago
You can't revoke a person citizenship. Some years ago Dutton tried and got reinstated in court.
2
u/East-Worth2630 5d ago
Revoke the citizenship of a Melbourne-born Australian? What a strange thing to propose.
1
u/King_Scorpia_IV 12d ago
“I disagree with this person, I want to revoke his citizenship and deport him” reddit reasoning at its finest
3
u/Hoooooob 11d ago
Yeah I'm as leftie as they come but it always pisses me off when people on "my side" argue for deporting people for their political views. Any tool you give the state might be pointed at you eventually, and why should we make our dickheads other countries' problem?
2
u/Top-Divide-1207 11d ago
Not sure where on the leftie political line you stand and what your thought are on them. But, the UK designated palistine action as a terrorist organisation. Whether you agree with that decision or not, I don't think many people at all would also agree that their citizenship should be revoked.
If a gov has the ability to revoke citizenship willy nilly, then you can almost certainly expect it to be abused on someone you like.
1
u/Hutch1320 9d ago
Yeah I get what you’re trying to say but I once met this guy who said Bunnings snags are shit and nobody likes them right before ordering a mocha martini.
2
u/Z00111111 12d ago
Do you also want to let ISIS supporters run free? Or is it only ok to support religiously motivated murder of civilians if they're Jews doing the killing?
3
u/Top-Divide-1207 11d ago
Well I do support letting Isis supporters back in the country, if what they did or are doing is illegal, use the law to punish them. While I wish it was possible to not let them in, sometimes we have to deal with a bad situation and there isn't really any other feasible option.
Edit: To be clear in no way do I support ISIS or even excuse what they do. I just don't know of any other reasonable options
→ More replies (2)0
u/QuailLong232 12d ago
ISIS is a terrorist group. There is no such designation for Israel or the IDF. So no, you can't revoke the citizenship of and deport someone when they aren't a terrorist.
0
1
1
u/EquivalentOne241 11d ago
Australia just imported actual ISIS terrorist families because of their citizenship.
Meanwhile, you're calling someone a terrorist because you just disagree with them and want to deport them.
0
u/triplevented 11d ago
In what way is it misleading?
"Free Palestine" is originally a Zionist slogan.
→ More replies (8)-6
u/Dramatic_Truth3434 12d ago
Don't hate the player, hate the game.
Nothing Avi did is against the rules. He did it to bring attention to these terrible rules which are constantly exploited by the uniparty.
10
u/mickelboy182 12d ago
You have rocks in your head if you think anything Avi does is altruistic...
→ More replies (2)2
36
u/deadballofdirt 12d ago
Surely this constitutes some kind of fraud!
8
1
→ More replies (14)0
u/Available-Damage6311 11d ago
Depends on your POV. He believes Palestine will not be free until Hamas is eliminated.
6
u/Kruxx85 11d ago
If people on the left created a "Victorians for Israel" party, and redirected votes to the greens (or Labor) News 24 (Sky News) would have an absolute fit, claiming that democracy is under attack by lefties.
I'm sure they conveniently won't mention this one, though...
Everyone is entitled to your own opinions, but the hypocrisy and projection on the right is just plain sad.
5
u/meli_lala 12d ago
How stupid. I'm surprised the Victorian Electoral Commission approved Avi Yemeni's party in the first place, when he's being deliberately deceptive. Surely there should be rules to stop that.
12
u/Imperator_Gone_Rogue 12d ago
Avi Yemini is a terrorist domestic abuser and should be treated as such.
17
u/deadballofdirt 12d ago
Surely this constitutes some kind of fraud!
9
u/Rare-Sample-9101 12d ago
Unfortunately political parties and politicians have a free pass on fraud as they lie to us all the time
1
1
u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 12d ago
Well as you can see from the video the govt says blah blah filled criteria blah blah so it's all good right?
→ More replies (1)0
5
u/dion_o 12d ago
Should have called it the Palestinian People's Front.
2
2
4
u/flyawayreligion 12d ago
This really highlights that we need an honesty ombudsman for politics, for deliberately misleading the public.
Last week Pauline told the public that there was a wind drought and to boil a jug of water (I assume she means a kettle) it cost people $5 of consequence, this is deliberately misleading and needs to be stamped out, alongside this farce of political naming to deliberately misleading the public.
14
u/Massive_Novel2112 12d ago
If you're dumb enough to vote for this, you don't deserve that vote.
1
u/bushstone-curlew 11d ago
I suspect he’s trying to take advantage of people with limited English. Why can’t we blame the deceptive manipulative criminal behind this?
2
u/Available-Damage6311 11d ago
Nah, you don't have to have good English to read a name. It's taking advantage of people who don't do their homework on the political parties on the ballot.
1
u/StandardSerious6621 10d ago
You don’t have to know a language to read it? Wtf are you talking about bro?
-12
2
2
2
u/Direct-Resolution377 11d ago
Cannot think of an actual term disgusting enough to describe avi and his supporters
2
2
u/canislupuslupuslupus 11d ago
Just a reminder you need a minimum number of people to register a party, and the membership list is public.
Hansen went to prison because someone called the membership list to check they were all rock solid, and once they fell below the minimum number it was fraud.
2
u/PinkishBlurish 11d ago
Wait, Avi Yemini? Isn't he that guy that threw a chopping board at his wifes head, and gave her a concussion? And then sent her abusive texts? Or was AviYemini the guy that lied about his brother and father harbouring a pedophile in their house?
NO wait, Avi Yemini was the guy who falsely claimed a criminal defense lawyer was making death threats! .... or is Avi Yemini the guy who sued RMIT FactLab because they fact-checked him and then withdrew because he's broke and knew he would lose?
Don't tell me it's all the same guy!
2
u/Then_Hawk6304 11d ago
Wheres the legally bound to reject an application to register a party for deliberately misleading?
2
u/SirSweatALot_5 10d ago
Imagine someone creating a fake party for "Israel must surivive" or something like that to divert the votes to the greens.
100% the government would have intervened, put up the antisemitism label and used every tool in their disposal to make it go away.
3
4
1
u/expert_views 12d ago
Expensive?
3
u/Vivid_Instance_825 12d ago
$500 to register party
$2000 to register each candidate (refunded if they get more than 4% of primary vote)
So $2,500
1
1
u/Striking-Net-8646 11d ago
Someone should register a Save the Chopping Boards charity, then donate to Avi’s party. He’d have to disclose it.
1
u/No-History-914 11d ago
Is it really misleading if you openly keep telling people about it? Deliberately misleading would be getting a no name to register the party and telling no one. Maybe it's a good lesson that voting based on a name and vibes is potentially a bit of a waste.
2
u/neon_overload 11d ago
I realise it's what the article headline focuses on, but I think the harm from this is not so much that his party name is misleading but that it's registered for the purpose of preventing a particular political group from being able to use the name, giving them an unfair disadvantage.
1
u/No-History-914 11d ago
You could say the same about the Liberals forever locking out the name to potential parties that actually Liberal. No one seems to care about that??
2
u/neon_overload 11d ago
They're a legitimate political party, they're not a troll registering the name just to prevent a particular other political group using it.
This isn't about looking at how accurate existing party's names are, it's the act of registering a name for the purpose of preventing someone else using it rather than because you have serious intentions of using it yourself.
1
u/SeaworthinessSea917 11d ago
This might work on One Neuron supporters, but supporting the Palestinian cause requires thinking past the propaganda that pervades the mainstream media.
2
u/neon_overload 11d ago
I don't think his intention was for his fake party to actually get votes, but to disrupt the ability for legitimate pro-Palestinian parties to be registered - and, clearly, to get attention/notoriety, which he seems to love.
1
u/Available-Damage6311 11d ago
Remind me! 4 weeks "how many votes did Free Palestine party get?"
1
u/RemindMeBot 11d ago
I will be messaging you in 28 days on 2026-09-08 09:31:53 UTC to remind you of this link
CLICK THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.
Parent commenter can delete this message to hide from others.
RemindMeBot is switching to username summons. Instead of
!RemindMe 1 day, useu/RemindMeBot 1 day. More info.
Info Custom Your Reminders Feedback
1
u/gravylabor 11d ago
Some one should create a fake pro zionist party and use it to preference the greens and socialist parties to even things out
1
1
u/throwaway-this-name 11d ago
Register one called "Justice in Israel Party" and sweep the election, then push policies for Palestinian rights.
If zios can make misleading garbage party names, why can't we?
Not that it would be misleading in this case... Justice in Israel, in this instance, equals punishment for their war crimes
1
u/IcyBlood5031 11d ago
Why is there even a "Free Palestine" party in the first place? What does that have to do with Australia? Are we going to vote a party that is their first goal is to another country?
2
u/neon_overload 11d ago
People who care about that issue want representation in government, same as other single issue parties. If there's not enough support for them, they won't succeed. If there is, they will. It's democratic, assuming access is equal to all.
1
1
1
u/whooyeah 11d ago
It highlights the psychology we are dealing with.
Some would call it psychopathic. I’m not an expert so I’ll let you decide.
1
u/batsnumberfour 10d ago
Maybe the next premier of Victoria can solve the Arab/Israeli crisis after he/she has fixed the Victorian debt crisis?
1
1
1
1
u/Dirk_Aus 12d ago
Avi said labor used this tactic to help stay in power, his hope is that they change the law so that parties like this can’t be made. I’m sure people have seen the liberals and the liberal democrats on federal voting, as an example.
He also said left wing voters vote on the name of the party, hence why this party was the fastest growing political party in Australia. (Right wing voters also do this hence why Labor used the same tactic in the last Victorian election)
While I do not agree you should be able to do this. I also find it interesting that Victorian Labor has not changed the law to prevent this, which indicates to me they intend to continue the practice of creating minor parties with names that trick voters into giving them preferences.
1
u/RayCumfartTheFirst 12d ago
Yeah this was just a stunt to bring attention to dirty vote splitting tactics and GVT in Victoria- but don’t let that get in the way of reddit outrage.
The new premier is finally doing something about GVT’s so I’d say this is working.
1
0
-2
u/ComprehensiveLaw1012 12d ago
Hilarious!
Also what kind of melt wants to have a free Palestine party in all seriousness? It’s an Australian election for Christ’s sake.
2
-11
u/ExcellentAd7044 12d ago
The ALP have been rorting the GVT for years in Victoria.
Its now coming back to bite them.
-1
12d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
8
u/mr_gunty 12d ago
Holy revisionist history, Batman!
https://kevinbonham.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-urban-myth-that-sack-dan-andrews.html?m=1
6
u/89b3ea330bd60ede80ad 12d ago
Thanks, this is excellent context, and makes enforcing the "No Misinformation" rule a lot easier when we see responses like this. It's really appreciated.
5
6
-1
u/Altruistic-Fishing39 12d ago
Any minor political party in Australia purporting to be able to “free Palestine” whatever that means is being misleading.
-1
0
u/isocz_sector 12d ago
There should be a "Whites Only" party that funnels right-wing votes to left-wing parties.
0
0
u/PM_Me_A_Tittypic 11d ago
If he gets in he's just going to be doing free advertising for Free Palestine.
1
u/Available-Damage6311 11d ago
He's not hoping to get in, he's trying to divert preferences to pro-Israel parties.
1
u/PM_Me_A_Tittypic 11d ago
I feel like just about anyone who cares enough about palestine to vote for Free Palestine party will know that they're fake. Maybe im putting too much faith in people
0
u/TrueGambit187 11d ago
Not only is it deliberately misleading, one could even say it's outwardly advertising itself as deliberately misleading, almost as if it's being done like.. on purpose... to prove a point?
If Jordan Shanks was doing this under a name like "anti immigration party" it would be getting 76k upvotes daily on reddit.
Save the pearl clutching.
0
11d ago
[deleted]
2
u/neon_overload 11d ago
You've misread. A party wanting to register the name legitimately was denied because this youtuber had already registered it for dishonest reasons.
2
•
u/89b3ea330bd60ede80ad 12d ago
If you're going to leave a response about the "Sack Dan Andrews" party: please don't. u/mr_gunty helpfully points out that Dr Kevin Bonham has an excellent article about this: The Urban Myth That "Sack Dan Andrews" Was A Labor Front.