Naaman Zhou 

Liberal party stands by candidate who shared anti-Muslim and anti-gay posts

Allan Green says the posts, shared when he was a Christian Democratic party candidate, do not reflect his personal views
  
  

Liberal candidate Allan Green
The Liberal party’s Greenway candidate, Allan Green, shared posts arguing that Australia should limit its Muslim population and same-sex couples should not be allowed to adopt. Photograph: NSW Liberal party

The Liberal party is standing by a candidate in New South Wales who previously expressed support for repealing the right of gay couples to adopt, shared posts warning against Muslim immigration, and said same-sex marriage could cause the abolishment of Mother’s and Father’s Day.

Allan Green, the Liberal candidate for Greenway in Sydney’s west, said the old posts – which were made when he was a candidate for the Christian Democratic party – did not reflect his personal views.

The posts, made by Green’s Facebook account in 2010, 2012 and 2015, shared views that Australia should limit its Muslim population, that same-sex couples should not be allowed to adopt, and that de-facto partnerships between gay couples should be repealed.

Asked on Monday afternoon whether the Liberal party would disendorse Green, Scott Morrison said he “hadn’t seen the matter”.

In 2012, Green shared a letter written by a Christian pastor to the Sydney Morning Herald – in response to news that a Sydney mosque had issued “a fatwa over Christmas”.

“The Islamic community has grown to 800,000 in Australia,” the letter said. “Our national leaders must exercise foresight and act now to keep Australia the way we know it; otherwise who is to say what the result will be in the years to come when the Islamic community has achieved a population growth into millions of residents.

“Dare we ask of our national leaders: ‘Are you resigned to the fact that eventually Australia will turn out to be just like some of the Middle Eastern countries?’”

In a post from 2015, Green warned that same-sex marriage would lead to the abolishment of Mother’s and Father’s Day. He suggested it had been hidden from the general public.

“No more mother’s or father’s day!!!,” he wrote. “The real consequences of legalising same sex marriage debate. The general public needs to be made aware of them so they can take a considered position on the matter.”

Also in 2015, he shared a “Christian values checklist” from the CDP during that year’s NSW state election.

The checklist listed values such as “Support sexual integrity, stop taxpayer funding of obscene homosexual Mardi Gras”, “Children need a mother and father – repeal homosexual adoption and refuse homosexual fostering” and “Support marriage – repeal same-sex & defacto relationship register”.

Only the CDP was awarded ticks for all these boxes – with the Liberal party given question marks or crosses.

In a post from 2010, he wrote that parties that aren’t the CDP have a “hidden agenda to wipe out Christian values” and in 2015 he shared an article from Breitbart that said “terrorists were caught crossing into Europe posing as refugees”.

On Sunday, Green told Guardian Australia he did not personally believe in any of the sentiments expressed.

“I don’t support those comments personally,” he said. “I was a CDP candidate then and I don’t personally hold those viewpoints … In that situation you are tied to the policies of the party. It isn’t necessarily a personal viewpoint. I wish everybody the best. I haven’t got any ill will to anybody.”

He said he supported the policies of Scott Morrison, including on immigration.

“I support the platform of the government,” he said. “I think the government has a good immigration policy … Immigration is good for the country, we should share our wealth with the rest of the world.”

Green said the Liberal party was aware that he had been a CDP candidate before he was preselected.

“They know I was a CDP candidate,” he said. “I don’t support those viewpoints [in the posts]. It was in the process of a campaign and I don’t personally hold those viewpoints.

“I certainly intend to stay as the Liberal candidate. I don’t believe there is any conflict between me and their platform.”

A Liberal party spokesman said they had no plans to disendorse him.

“Mr Green has stated that the re-posted materials do not reflect his views,” he said. “He has expressed personal support for the government’s policies.”

Last week, the Liberal party disendorsed their candidate for the Melbourne seat of Scullin, Gurpal Singh, over Facebook comments he made against rape victims.

Earlier, the party’s Tasmanian candidate Jessica Whelan and Victorian candidate Jeremy Hearn resigned over anti-Muslim comments, and Victorian candidate Peter Killin quit over homophobic comments.

Labor’s candidate for Melbourne, Luke Creasey, also quit last week over Facebook posts he made about rape.

 

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