One Nation candidate following ‘ban’ the burqa site
A One Nation candidate previously pictured wearing a shirt emblazoned with the logo of a far-right extremist group is following pages like “Ban the BURKA” on social media.
Reports revealed this month that Port Adelaide One Nation candidate Joel Hendrie was formerly pictured in a shirt emblazoned with the True Blue Crew logo, standing alongside One Nation’s Spence candidate for the 2022 federal election, Linda Champion.
True Blue Crew is a far-right extremist group associated with anti-immigration and Islamophobic stances, the wearing of the shirt reported by 9 News.
InDaily can now reveal that on his personal Facebook page, Hendrie follows several pages critical of Islam, including ones titled “Mosque Free Gympie”, “Australians Against Sharia Law”, “Stop the Mosque in Melbourne 2”, “Exposing ISLAM In Australia”, “Ban the BURKA (sic)” and “Boycott Halal in our Institutions”.
Hendrie also changed his profile picture to include a banner stating “I Support Senator Fraser Anning” in March 2020. The controversial former senator had previously made widely condemned comments about Muslims and immigration.
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A spokesperson for One Nation declined to respond when asked if the party stands by Hendrie, whether concerns were raised prior to his selection as a candidate or whether the party would be reviewing its candidate selection process.
Hendrie did not respond to multiple requests for comment about whether he has ever been a member of or supports True Blue Crew, or if he stands by his social media activity.
In a statement previously supplied to 9 News, Hendrie said: “Wearing a t-shirt four years ago does not make me a member of any group nor does it mean I endorse such a group, or have ties to it”.
Labor campaign spokesman Blair Boyer said that “it’s not suprising that One Nation candidates hold extreme right wing views”.
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“What is surprising is that the South Australian Liberals under Ashton Hurn are prepared to jettison the principles adhered to by John Howard and are instead preparing to do a preference deal with One Nation,” he claimed.
SA Liberal leader Ashton Hurn yesterday confirmed that the Liberal Party had held conversations with One Nation, other minor parties and independents about preference deals.
“Conversations about preferences are always ongoing. They’ve been ongoing for some time now, but that’s not just with One Nation, that’s with other minor parties and independents,” she said.
“This is pretty stock standard of an election campaign, but certainly no decision has been made.”
It comes after South Australian Senator Alex Antic and One Nation’s lead upper house candidate Cory Bernardi were spotted grabbing a beer together earlier this week, leading to speculation the two parties could be seeking a preference deal.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Hurn said Antic and Bernardi were “friends” and “I don’t think there’s much to it”.
Port Adelaide is an ultra-safe Labor seat that has been held by retiring MP and former Deputy Premier Susan Close since 2012.
Close won the seat with a margin of 43.6 per cent on a two-party preferred basis at the 2022 state election.
Political staffer Cheyne Rich is contesting the seat for Labor at the upcoming election, while the SA Liberals have put forward local venue manager Scott Anderson, and financial professional Hayden Shaw is running for the Greens.
A recent DemosAU/Ace Strategies Poll published exclusively by InDaily showed One Nation could win two to three seats in the Legislative Council at the March state election.
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