Paul Mansfield, the Liberal candidate for Darling Range at the state election, says he has no recollection of posting homophobic jokes on his personal Facebook page.
A Liberal party media conference was derailed earlier today when Mansfield was asked about decade old posts on his Facebook page that were described as homophobic jokes and memes that were degrading to women.
Mansfield said he had no comment to make about the posts from 2013 and 2015, and said he couldn’t recall making the posts. Immediately after the media asked about his social media content his accounts were deleted.
Mansfield was appearing alongside Western Australian Liberal leader Libby Mettam to announce a policy on tackling domestic violence. Mettam also declined to comment on the the candidate’s past social media content.
Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said the incident was another examle of how dysfunctional the Liberal party is as the state races towards the election.
“She was standing next to a candidate who made degrading, and in fact, disgusting comments about women, and they’re trying to sell a policy on family and domestic violence.
“This shows you that this Liberal Party is completely chaotic and dysfunctional.” Saffioti told The West Australian.
Labor MLC Peter Foster highlighted the incident on social media saying Mansfield was “another poor choice of Liberal candidate”.
