With the Federal election still more than a fortnight away, a run of candidates have already either been forced to quit the race, or been disendorsed by their parties, over Section 44 concerns, offensive social media posts and a strip club scandal.
While it is unsurprising minor parties and independents habitually get it wrong due to a combination of incompetence and inexperience, the major parties have no excuse.
While it is unsurprising minor parties habitually get it wrong due to a combination of incompetence and inexperience, the major parties have no excuse.
Given the hard lessons both the LNP and Labor have been forced to digest thanks to the Section 44 scandals that have dogged the current parliamentary term how is it possible for the Liberals to lose two candidates in the space of a day?
That is what happened on Wednesday when Jeremy Hearn, the candidate for Isaacs, stood down after it was revealed he had published anti-Muslim tirades online, and Peter Killin, the Liberal candidate for Wills, stood down over posting homophobic statements on the CultureWatch website in 2016.
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That said, Labor's recent record has been no better. Wayne Kurnoth, a union leader on Labor's Northern Territory Senate ticket, was forced to stand down after media reports that in 2015 he had shared a conspiracy theory claiming the world was being secretly run by a group of shape-shifting Jewish lizards.
On Friday, Luke Creasey, Labor's candidate for the seat of Melbourne, quit following revelations he had shared a bad-taste rape joke, making light of victims' allegations, on line and Tasmanian Liberal candidate Jessica Whelan, accused of posting anti-Muslim comments on social media, also went.
One Nation's highest profile casualty to date Steve Dickson. Apparently nobody had asked him if there might possibly be more embarrassing material in the wings following the Al Jazeera NRA dump.
These fails, which create an impression that in too many cases it appears that people are just being rubber stamped with no attempt to check their social media history, past conduct or legal eligibility, cannot be ignored. If a major party is unable to establish whether or not a person seeking preselection on its behalf has conducted themselves improperly then it has no business putting them forward.
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