A City of Albany councilor, who also ran for a spot in parliament at the recent state election, has suggested in a social media post the people who vote for The Greens should be shot.
On Saturday night Councilor Mario Lionetti commented on a story on the Facebook page of the The Albany Advertiser. The story was a profile on The Greens federal election candidate Giz Watson.
“Who votes these Muppets in needs lining up for our army’s target practice” he wrote.
The comment was removed by the published for violating their commenting policies, but local residents who saw the statement were quick to call out the councilor.
Following backlash has seen local residents calling for a boycott of the businesses owned by Cr Lionetti, and residents sharing that they’ve lodged complaints under the City of Albany’s Code of Conduct provisions for councilors.
Albany mayor Greg Stocks said the comments from Councilor Lionetti were disappointing.
“I am extremely disappointed by Cr Lionetti’s comments,” he said.
“They are indefensible, unacceptable, and in no way reflect the values of the city of Albany or the council.”
Giz Watson, who previously served in the state parliament, called on Cr Lionetti to reflect on what he’d said, described the comment as “quite serious”.
“The Facebook post doesn’t reflect well on Mr Lionetti,” she told the local newspaper. ““Inciting violence is a serious matter and should never happen in politics or in our community.”
“I call on Mr Lionetti to reflect on his remark and apologise to the many people he has threatened.”
Cr Lionetti has so far declined to comment on his statement.
The local business man previously made headlines during the State election when he told Premier Roger Cook to “have yourself a glass of Vaseline because when I get in I’m going to ride you for every one of these ……. promises”.
Giz Watson served as a member of the Legislative Council from 1997 until her retirement in 2013. Watson was the first member of any parliament in Australia to publicly share that they were a lesbian, and was instrumental in improving the legal rights of LGBTIQ people in Western Australia.
OUTinPerth has contact Cr Lionetti for comment.
