The Liberal Party has withdrawn its endorsement of Williamstown candidate Paul Lindemann after he used an anonymous Facebook account to post racist comments about Indigenous Australians, including references to “half-breed” and “half-caste” people. The party said Wednesday night it was not previously aware of the remarks and described them as offensive and inconsistent with its values.
Lindemann, a real estate agent who joined the Liberal Party last year, operated a Facebook account under the alias Biddy Hu Biddy Hu, named after his yacht. The account featured photos of him and his family and listed the same school and university he attended.
In posts on the account, Lindemann commented on a discussion about the proposed Voice to parliament, saying Indigenous Australians were “never civilised” and were “the most primitive homo sapiens on Earth”. He also claimed Aboriginal people want “more rights than the others that followed”, and said that if this logic were applied to recent immigrants, they would be fully indebted to third-generation Australians like himself.
In one post, Lindemann wrote: “And any half-breed should fore go [sic] indigenous statis [sic], they are no longer indigenous they have foreign blood, hence as indigenous as me. How many full bloods are still in our community?”
Lindemann separately said he had respect for some Indigenous people, but said that applied to “generally the full bloods”. He added: “It’s when you get the half casts involved, no tradition, no respect, no hierarchy, just greed and hatred, all about $$$ and what they can extract from the government.”
The term half-caste is a racist trope that appeared in Victorian legislation in 1886, allowing the government of the day to expel people of mixed descent from Aboriginal reserves and exert different rules over children. It is now widely regarded as offensive and symbolic of assimilation policies, including the forced removal of children.
A Liberal Party spokesperson said in response to questions from The Age: “These comments are offensive, unacceptable and inconsistent with the values and standards expected of Liberal candidates. All candidates are expected to treat Australians with dignity and respect. Mr Lindemann’s comments fell short of that standard.”
In other posts, Lindemann referred to a supporter of the Voice to parliament as a “pig”, and described backers of federal Coalition frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as “progressive aboriginals” compared with “the ones who complain and sit around waiting for the next handouts”. Commenting on a photo of Aboriginal soldiers from 1940, he said it was when “aboriginal people could be proud of their origins, when they contributed to society. Now?”
The Age earlier reported that Lindemann served a six-week suspension as a junior basketball coach for bringing the game into disrepute, and that he was alleged to have called an under-14s player “crap” and mocked her during a game.
While the Liberal Party has disendorsed Lindemann, his name will remain on the ballot because nominations for the state election closed earlier this week, and the party cannot replace him. Williamstown has been held by Labor for all but four years since 1889.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The disendorsement of a candidate for racist comments highlights ongoing tensions around racial discourse in Australian politics, particularly ahead of the Victorian state election.
- Lindemann’s name will remain on the ballot, meaning voters in Williamstown will see a Liberal candidate the party has rejected, potentially affecting voter trust and the seat’s outcome.
- The case underscores how social media activity, even under pseudonyms, can surface and derail political campaigns, raising questions about candidate vetting.
Background
Paul Lindemann joined the Liberal Party last year and was preselected as the candidate for Williamstown, a seat Labor has held comfortably. The state election is scheduled for November 2026.
Key Perspectives
- Liberal Party: Said it was not previously aware of the comments and described them as offensive, unacceptable and inconsistent with the values expected of Liberal candidates.
- Sports Minister Steve Dimopoulos: Said the candidate should be disendorsed, commenting that “every Victorian deserves to play community sport in a way that is safe and free from intimidation” and that “you have to be very bad to be found guilty of bringing community basketball into disrepute”.
What to Watch
- Whether Lindemann’s continued presence on the ballot affects the Liberal vote in Williamstown, a seat Labor holds with a 13.4 per cent margin.
- Any further disclosures from Lindemann’s social media activity or other candidates facing similar scrutiny before election day.
- The party’s response to the nomination deadline issue, and whether it seeks legislative changes to allow candidate replacement after disendorsement.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedThe Liberal Party withdrew Paul Lindemann’s endorsement over his use of an anonymous Facebook account to share racist tropes about Indigenous Australians.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: “On Wednesday night, in response to questions from The Age, the Liberal Party withdrew its endorsement of Lindemann.”
- SupportedLindemann’s comments included the terms “half-breed” and “half-caste”.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: ““And any half-breed should fore go [sic] indigenous statis [sic], they are no longer indigenous they have foreign blood, hence as indigenous as me,” he said.”
- SupportedThe party said it had not previously known about Lindemann’s comments about Indigenous Australians.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: “A spokesperson said the party was not previously aware of his comments about Indigenous Australians.”
- SupportedLindemann commented that Indigenous Australians were “never civilised” and “the most primitive homo sapiens on Earth”.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: “Under this alias, Lindemann commented on a discussion about the proposed Voice to parliament by saying Indigenous Australians were “never civilised” and were “the most primitive homo sapiens on Earth”.”
- SupportedLindemann wrote that “any half-breed should fore go [sic] indigenous statis [sic]” and asked how many “full bloods” remained in the community.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: ““And any half-breed should fore go [sic] indigenous statis [sic], they are no longer indigenous they have foreign blood, hence as indigenous as me,” he said. “How many full bloods are still in our community?””
- SupportedLindemann’s account used the alias Biddy Hu Biddy Hu, named after his yacht, and featured photos of him and his family.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: “The account – named after Lindemann’s yacht, the Biddy Hu II – features photos of the real estate agent and his family”
- SupportedLindemann said Aboriginal people wanted “more rights than the others that followed” and that recent immigrants would be fully indebted to third-generation Australians like him if that logic applied to them.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: “he claimed that Aboriginal people want “more rights than the others that followed”, and said that if this logic were applied to recent immigrants, they would also be fully indebted to third-generation Australians like himself.”
- SupportedLindemann said the “half casts” had “no tradition, no respect, no hierarchy, just greed and hatred”.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: ““It’s when you get the half casts involved, no tradition, no respect, no hierarchy, just greed and hatred, all about $$$ and what they can extract from the government.””
- Partly supportedThe story says Victorian legislation in 1886 allowed the government to expel people of mixed descent from Aboriginal reserves and impose different rules over children, without specifying the source’s condition concerning children who were not “full bloods”.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: “The term half-caste is a racist trope that appeared in Victorian legislation in 1886 that allowed the government of the day to expel people of mixed descent from Aboriginal reserves and exert control and different rules over children if they weren’t “full bloods”.”
- SupportedThe Liberal Party spokesperson described the comments as “offensive, unacceptable and inconsistent with the values and standards expected of Liberal candidates”.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: ““These comments are offensive, unacceptable and inconsistent with the values and standards expected of Liberal candidates,” the spokesperson said.”
- SupportedThe Age reported that Lindemann served a six-week suspension as a junior basketball coach for bringing the game into disrepute, and was alleged to have called an under-14s player “crap” and mocked her.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: “The Age revealed earlier on Wednesday that Lindemann last year served a six-week suspension as a junior basketball coach for bringing the game into disrepute. He was alleged to have called an under 14s player “crap” and mocked her during the game.”
- SupportedLindemann’s name will remain on the ballot because nominations closed earlier that week and the party cannot replace him.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: “his name will remain on the ballot, and the party cannot replace him, as nominations for the election closed earlier this week.”