By Mitchell Clarke
A Cardinia Shire Council candidate has rejected allegations he was behind a series of controversial opinions that surfaced from his personal Facebook page.
Beaconhills Ward hopeful Andrew McNabb has denied that a number of posts were written or shared by him and claims his account was hacked.
In a series of screenshots obtained by the Gazette, Mr McNabb’s Facebook account purportedly indicates support towards a ban on Muslim immigration.
It’s understood the posts were shared between March and June 2017. They no longer appear on his page.
One of the posts from his account read: “Time to act, no more talking, these Islam terrorists have to be wiped off the face of the earth”.
Another post stated: “Time to stop being so bloody political correct and pandering to the muslims (sic) faith”.
A series of other posts purportedly refer to a number of people under the disguises of ‘Fat Controller’, ‘Ali Baba’, the ‘Baker’, the ‘Barrister’ and the ‘Accountant’.
The Gazette understands the references are nicknames to prominent local identities including Adam Sadiqzai and Liberal MPs Brad Battin, Edward O’Donohue and Brian Paynter respectively.
Adam Sadiqzai, who owns Khan’s Hospitality Services, said the reference to him as ’Ali Baba’ carried a racist connotation.
He said the posts surfaced when he was contesting Liberal preselection.
“For me, one of the worst kinds of racism I believe, is subtle racism, and that’s what I believe this is. It’s like saying ‘i’m not a racist, but … ’,” he said.
When questioned by the Gazette, Mr McNabb vehemently denied he was behind the posts.
He said his Facebook account had been hacked “a number of times”.
“When I grew up there were no computers and no internet. I don’t really know how Facebook works and only found out how to set your privacy settings,” he said.
“Until recently my settings were open and the stuff you are referring to wasn’t done by me. I suspect it was done by people who don’t like me. I’ve changed my privacy settings so anything people see now, they can trust has come from me.”
When asked if he was concerned about how those purported views might be perceived among Cardinia Shire’s multicultural community, Mr McNabb said they weren’t his views.
“They aren’t my views … and I agree with you that they are just wrong,” he said.
In August this year, Mr McNabb said he took to Facebook to celebrate Independence Day for many countries.
In one post he stated: “Happy Independence Day to all my friends from Afghanistan. I pray peace will come and be everlasting in your home land“.
