Violent incidents mar Australian election campaign

SYDNEY - Two violent incidents have marred the start of the Australian election campaign.

Police have charged two men in Adelaide after a Liberal Party candidate was allegedly punched during an argument over the treatment of asylum-seekers.

Jassmine Wood told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that two men approached her and an assistant as they campaigned at a shopping centre. She said they criticised her party’s border protection policy before throwing punches.

In Sydney, police are investigating shots fired into the campaign office and home of a Labor Party candidate.

Brent Thomas told the Daily Telegraph newspaper he was getting dressed when a bullet apparently fired from a passing car slammed into the wall outside.

A week earlier, a bullet was fired through his campaign office window. He moved his family to a safe location as counterterrorism police joined the investigation.