One Nation candidate for the Victorian seat of Greenvale, Chris Moore, has apologised for a series of offensive social media posts made between 2010 and 2012, which included comments about Australian-Indians, a woman in a burqa, lesbians, refugees and Julia Gillard.
The comments, made on his personal Facebook page, included repeated references to Australian-Indians as 'curry munchers', comparing a woman in a burqa to a bag of rubbish, and sharing an image labelling Julia Gillard a 'slut'.
Moore told Guardian Australia the posts 'were unthoughtful posts I shared as a young man among close friends'. 'They don't reflect who I am today,' he said, adding that he is focused on doing the right thing by Greenvale voters and giving them a strong voice in the Victorian Parliament.
In one post from 2012, Moore shared a picture of a woman and child in burqas standing next to rubbish bags, writing 'Haha spot the difference.' Other posts questioned who 'does the dishes in a lesbian relationship', and referred to a cleaner as the 'new homo cleaner'. He also posted that he should probably stop shouting 'Curry Muncher' at the TV and wrote in 2010 that 'the boat people are good for something after all'.
The electorate of Greenvale is held by Labor's Iwan Walters with a margin of 7.1 percent. A Labor spokesperson called the posts 'reprehensible' and called on One Nation to disendorse Moore and for the Liberals not to preference him, saying there is no place for racist, Islamophobic and sexist comments.
One Nation Victoria has not disendorsed Moore. The party has claimed to have invested time and money into improving its vetting process. In Victoria, candidates must provide their personal social media accounts and are interviewed by a three-person selection panel including the party's Victorian leader, Warren Pickering. It is unclear how these histories were not detected.
The party has taken different action against two other candidates, disendorsing Franco Guardiani for comments about Adolf Hitler and Matthew Collins over now-deleted remarks on sexual consent and pornographic jokes.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The controversy puts One Nation's candidate vetting process under scrutiny ahead of the state election.
- Moore's candidacy tests the party's stated commitment to higher standards after disendorsing other candidates for similar offences.
- Highlights the persistent challenge of past social media activity for political candidates across all parties.
Background
One Nation has been attempting to build electoral credibility in Victoria but has faced repeated candidate controversies. In the same week the party disendorsed two other candidates for offensive social media posts, it has not taken the same step against Moore, raising questions about its selection processes and standards.
Key Perspectives
Chris Moore: Described the posts as 'unthoughtful' and made as a young man, saying they do not reflect his current views.
One Nation Victoria: Has not disendorsed Moore, despite taking similar action against two other candidates this week.
Labor: Called the posts 'reprehensible' and demanded Moore's disendorsement, also urging the Liberal party not to preference him.
What to Watch
- Whether One Nation will eventually disendorse Moore following further internal or public pressure.
- The response from the Liberal party regarding preference deals with One Nation in affected seats.
- Impact on the campaign in the seat of Greenvale.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 10 supported.
Show each claim
- Reports differThe story says an image labelled Julia Gillard a “slut”.World news | The Guardian: “Moore also shared an image of Gillard and the Home and Away character Alf Stewart. The image of Gillard was accompanied by the caption: “smash my box Alf!” The image of Stewart was accompanied with: “If I wanted a greasy red box I’d go to KFC ya slut.””
- SupportedOne Nation Victoria candidate Chris Moore apologised for offensive social media posts.World news | The Guardian: “A One Nation candidate in Victoria has apologised for a series of offensive comments”
- SupportedMoore said the posts were “unthoughtful posts I shared as a young man among close friends”.World news | The Guardian: ““these were unthoughtful posts I shared as a young man among close friends””
- SupportedMoore said the posts “don't reflect who I am today”.World news | The Guardian: ““They don’t reflect who I am today,” Moore said.”
- SupportedThe posts were made on Moore’s personal Facebook page between 2010 and 2012.World news | The Guardian: “One Nation Victoria has not disendorsed the candidate over the comments, which were made on his personal Facebook page between 2010 and 2012.”
- SupportedA 2012 post showed a woman and child in burqas by rubbish bags, with the caption “Haha spot the difference.”World news | The Guardian: “In 2012, Moore shared a picture of a woman and a child both wearing a burqa and standing between two full plastic rubbish bags. He then posted: “Haha spot the difference.””
- SupportedMoore posted a question about who does the dishes in a lesbian relationship.World news | The Guardian: “He also posted saying he “wonders who does the dishes in a lesbian relationship?””
- SupportedMoore referred to a cleaner as the “new homo cleaner”.World news | The Guardian: “once posted that he “doesn’t like the way the new homo cleaner at work looks at me”.”
- Partly supportedMoore posted that “the boat people are good for something after all”.World news | The Guardian: “In 2010 he posted: “Just got the curry munchers to wash his car and pretty happy with the way it came up, looks like the boat people are good for something after all?””
- SupportedGreenvale is held by Iwan Walters and has a 7.1% margin.World news | The Guardian: “Greenvale is a fairly safe Labor seat with a margin of 7.1%. It is held by Iwan Walters”
- SupportedA Labor spokesperson called the posts “reprehensible” and said there is no place for racist, Islamophobic and sexist comments.World news | The Guardian: “A Labor spokesperson said the posts were “reprehensible” and called on One Nation to disendorse the candidate and for the Liberals not to preference him. “There is no place for racist, Islamophobic and sexist comments,” the Labor spokesperson said.”
- SupportedOne Nation Victoria has not disendorsed Moore.World news | The Guardian: “One Nation Victoria has not disendorsed the candidate over the comments”