The Victorian Liberals have dumped a candidate less than three weeks from polling day after online posts spouting offensive views about Indigenous Australians surfaced.
Williamstown Liberal candidate Paul Lindemann was disendorsed on Wednesday after the party became aware of comments about Indigenous Australians, a campaign spokesperson said.
"These comments are offensive, unacceptable and inconsistent with the values and standards expected of Liberal candidates," the spokesperson said.
The Facebook alias Biddy Hu Biddy Hu, which often posted photos of Mr Lindemann and his family, reportedly referred to Indigenous Australians as “the most primitive homo sapiens on Earth” who were “never civilised”, according to The Age.
In another post, the Biddy Hu profile - named after Mr Lindemann’s yacht - commented under a photo depicting Indigenous Australians performing a Welcome to Country, stating they had "taken billions of dollars every year!"
Other posts under the same alias displayed a photo of former premier Daniel Andrews in a Nazi soldier uniform and questioned the efficacy of mask-wearing during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The junior basketball coach came under fire earlier this week over claims he was suspended from a local sporting league for intimidating and mocking a teenage girl during a game, The Age reports.
Condemning the social media posts as "disgusting and offensive", Victorian Labor called for the Liberal Party to expel Mr Lindemann.
“Jess Wilson stood by Paul Lindemann when it came out he harassed and intimidated a girl at under 14s community basketball,” a Labor spokesperson said.
“These were public posts - posted within the last few years - there is no way the Liberal party could not have know about them."
Mr Lindemann was contacted for comment.
With the election nomination period ending earlier this week, disendorsing Lindemann removes the Liberal Party from the race to claim Williamstown.
The inner-city electorate has been a safe Labor zone for decades, with government minister Melissa Horne retaining the seat with a 13.4 per cent primary vote margin in 2022.
Mr Lindemann is the most recent candidate in the intensely contested election to come unstuck over their social media footprint.
One Nation cut ties with its Preston candidate Franco Guardiani on Monday after concerning online comments surfaced, including one where he appeared to praise Adolf Hitler, the ABC reports.
Earlier on Tuesday, another One Nation candidate, Chris Moore, was forced to apologise for offensive social media comments made between 2010 and 2012, The Guardian reports.
Separately, Liberal Croydon candidate Grant Hutchinson was dropped last month after "new information" came to light involving his law firm, the party claimed.
If recent polling holds, the 12-year-old Labor government led by Premier Ben Carroll will likely be turfed in favour of the coalition.
A Resolve Political Monitor published by The Age on Tuesday put Labor's primary support at 22 per cent to the coalition's 30.
The survey of 1000 people in November pegged One Nation's share in second place at 23 per cent, ahead of the Greens at 13.
