Man and boy arrested after One Nation volunteer allegedly attacked with baseball bat in Torquay

On Sunday night, outside a home in Torquay, a coastal town about 100km (62 miles) south-west of Melbourne, a volunteer for the right-wing populist party One Nation was allegedly attacked with a baseball bat. Police arrested two people that night: a 37-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy.

The man has been charged with assault offences and remanded in custody. The boy was issued with a caution. The volunteer was taken to hospital with injuries police described as non-life threatening, and he remains in a stable condition.

Police have given no detail about a motive. The account of what led up to the attack comes from the party. One Nation's Victorian leader, Warren Pickering, claimed it followed the pair "interfering with" election signs on the volunteer's property. He called the alleged assault "un-Australian and unacceptable" and said political violence or intimidation of any kind against anyone is unacceptable in the country. "If you don't like someone's politics, you vote accordingly," he said. "You don't assault them."

On Tuesday, party leader Pauline Hanson visited the man at University Hospital Geelong, where he is recovering. Speaking outside the hospital, she praised his "resilience" and his "belief" in her party. "He wants to go right back out there and put the signs up," she said. The party has described his injuries as serious and has shared a photo showing severe swelling and bruising to his face.

The reaction was not confined to One Nation. Victorian Premier Ben Carroll called the attack "shocking" and framed it in terms that cut across party lines. "Whether you're wearing a red, a blue, an orange, or a green T-shirt, they are volunteers," he said. "They are out there doing what they believe is right, and no one should be coming under attack."

The timing matters. The alleged assault happened in the middle of a Victorian state election campaign, when volunteers are putting up signs and handing out material. It also comes as Australia is reckoning more broadly with the tone of its political debate, following last month's attack on federal MP Helen Haines, which left her needing both legs amputated. Police have not detailed a motive in that case either.

Politicians, law enforcement and experts have said that heated public discourse is heightening the threat of political violence in the country. The Torquay case adds to that argument, though what actually happened outside the volunteer's home, and why, has yet to be established. That will be tested in the court process facing the 37-year-old man, while the campaign continues around it.