One Nation has dumped a candidate just days before the Victorian election after the party condemned ‘appalling’ social media comments that praised Adolf Hitler and cast doubt on the Holocaust.
Franco Guardiani had been running for the seat of Preston, 9km north-east of Melbourne‘s CBD, but no longer appears on the party’s candidate website.
He was previously endorsed by Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party for the 2018 Batman by-election before later joining One Nation. He had contested the former federal seat in 2013 and 2016.
The electorate of Batman was later renamed Cooper and is now held by Labor frontbencher Ged Kearney.
One Nation state leader Warren Pickering confirmed on Tuesday that Guardiani had been dumped as a candidate over comments he said would be deeply offensive to Jewish Australians.
‘At a time when Jewish Australians are experiencing unprecedented persecution, we are appalled that these comments have been made,’ he told the ABC.
‘As soon as we became aware of them, we acted. Preston candidate Franco Guardiani is no longer part of our party.
‘Anyone who holds such views is on notice: they have no place in One Nation.’
Franco Guardiani (pictured) has been removed from One Nation’s Victorian candidate list
A post made by an account bearing Guardiani’s name questioned the Holocaust
The removal follows a string of comments made by a social media account bearing Guardiani’s name, which were circulated on Tuesday.
These included posts referring to Hitler as the ‘GOAT’, or ‘greatest of all time’, and remarks casting doubt on the Holocaust. They were later deleted after being shared by other users.
In one exchange from December last year, the account responded to a post featuring an image of Hitler, commenting: ‘The people seem so happy.’
In another post about young Americans believing the Holocaust was a myth, it wrote: ‘So only one in five have brains.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Guardiani and One Nation for comment.
The ex-candidate then confirmed to the ABC on Tuesday afternoon that the social media accounts belonged to him.
‘The party does what it sees fit,’ he said, adding that he believed in free speech and that people should be able to express their views and question things.
Guardiani’s candidate biography said he was born in Carlton to Italian migrant parents, owns a construction business and holds an Executive MBA.
The now-removed profile said he was running on a platform of defending free speech, reducing migration to levels that infrastructure could support, and delivering relief from housing affordability and cost-of-living pressures.
The ex-candidate then confirmed on Tuesday that the social media accounts belonged to him
Guardiani had been selected to contest Preston, where Labor MP Nathan Lambert holds the seat on a margin of 2.1 per cent against the Greens.
Despite One Nation removing him from its list of Victorian candidates, the decision comes too late to stop his name appearing on ballot papers.
Candidate nominations closed this week and the ballot draw was conducted on Tuesday, meaning Guardiani will remain listed as the One Nation candidate for Preston despite losing party endorsement.
The only campaign video shared on Guardiani’s Facebook page showed him walking through local streets while outlining his pitch to voters.
‘I’m Franco Guardiani, One Nation’s candidate for Preston,’ he said in the video.
‘I’m aware of all the cost-of-living pressures, the high crime rate, especially in Preston Reservoir.
‘One Nation is here to solve those problems for us. One Nation’s policies are there to address all these issues.’
The controversy comes as One Nation continues to poll strongly in Victoria ahead of the election.
A Resolve Strategic poll on Monday found the Coalition leading on 30 per cent, with One Nation on 23 per cent and Labor on 22 per cent.
