One Nation dumps its candidates the way that most people swipe left on Tinder, and overnight, they got rid of Peter Rogers, the third Queenslander to be ousted by the conservative party since December.
As with other recent candidates who faced the chopping block, Rogers lost his endorsement for the seat of Mulgrave thanks to comments made online – specifically, a post on his official blog that contained numerous wild conspiracy theories.
The post in question, from two weeks ago, claimed that images showing the body of three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi washing up on a beach were fabricated as part of a “lie that changed the world”, and that he is alive and well.
It also claims that the 1996 Port Arthur massacre never happened, and that the story was “founded on total lies” to bring in broad social changes like gun control measures.
At least Rogers’ excuse is original. When asked about the post, he claimed that he left a mate in charge of his website while on an overseas trip, as you do, and that his mate actually wrote and published the piece without his permission.
Rogers said that he “made a mistake” letting said mate look after the site in his absence, but he was still surprised when his party gave him the boot. He told journalists:
“I offered to resign when the issue blew up in the media, but I never expected Pauline or the party officials to accept it … Other politicians including Ms Hanson have done far worse and survived. I made a mistake by allowing this guy to look after my website but Pauline has made bigger mistakes. I think the most disappointing thing about it is that I have got to go and tell my supporters now that I’m not standing for them.”
Rogers went on to say that if One Nation continues “jumping the gun” and dumping its candidates for trifling things like calling gay people abnormal sex criminals, its support base will turn against it.
“No-one is perfect” he said, adding that party leadership should “make allowances” for would-be pollies who are still on their training wheels.
Source: ABC News.
Photo: One Nation.
