Victorian Political Parties Drop Candidates Over Past Social Media Remarks

The Victorian Liberal Party has withdrawn its endorsement of Williamstown candidate Paul Lindemann after offensive comments regarding Indigenous Australians came to light. In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, the party stated that the views expressed by Mr Lindemann were previously unknown to them and fell short of expected standards. The party noted that all candidates are required to treat Australians with dignity and respect.

In a 2023 post within a private Facebook group, Mr Lindemann asserted that Indigenous Australians of mixed ancestry should not be recognized as Indigenous. In another post from the previous year, he claimed that Aboriginal people did not possess a written or universal language, describing their communication as a basic tribal dialect. Additionally, Sport Minister Steve Dimopoulos called for Opposition Leader Jess Wilson to drop Mr Lindemann over separate allegations concerning his conduct while coaching a young basketball player. In a statement, Mr Lindemann apologized for his actions and acknowledged he should have handled the situation differently.

Mr Lindemann is the second candidate dropped by the Liberal Party, following the earlier departure of Croydon candidate Grant Hutchison. Meanwhile, One Nation also removed its Preston candidate, Franco Guardiani, after social media posts emerged in which he appeared to praise Adolf Hitler by calling him the greatest of all time and questioned the Holocaust.

At the same time, One Nation candidate for Greenvale Chris Moore issued an apology for derogatory social media comments posted on his personal Facebook page between 2010 and 2012. Mr Moore's historical posts included references to Australian-Indians, comparisons of a woman wearing a burqa to rubbish bags, and derogatory remarks about lesbians, refugees, and former prime minister Julia Gillard. One Nation Victoria has not disendorsed Mr Moore over the posts, with the candidate stating that the remarks were unthoughtful shares from his youth that do not reflect who he is today.

The electoral contests take place ahead of Victorians heading to the polls on November 28. The seat of Williamstown has been held by Labor's Minister for Jobs Melissa Horne since 2018, while Greenvale is held by Labor parliamentary secretary Iwan Walters with a 7.1% margin.