Indigenous leaders welcome dumping of Liberal candidate for racist posts

Indigenous Victorians have welcomed the Liberal Party's decision to disendorse its candidate for Williamstown after his racist social media posts were unearthed.

Liberal leader Jess Wilson said she was not aware of Paul Lindemann's Facebook comments before he was pre-selected and that she found them deeply offensive.

Mr Lindemann's disendorsement came after the deadline for nominations closed, and he will remain listed on ballot sheets as a Liberal candidate.

Victoria's Treaty body has welcomed the disendorsement of a candidate who made racist posts about Aboriginal people on social media.

Paul Lindemann was removed yesterday as the Liberal candidate for Williamstown after the posts were uncovered, but will remain on the ballot sheet because nominations closed on Monday.

Mr Lindemann made a series of posts on Facebook in which he referred to Indigenous Australians as "half breeds" or "half castes".

Mr Lindemann posted under the name Biddy Hu Biddy Hu in an apparent reference to his yacht Biddy Hu II, with which he competes in sailing competitions.

In one post he wrote that Indigenous Australians "believe they have more rights than the others that followed" and that Aboriginal people with "foreign blood" should "forego Indigenous status".

Mr Lindemann also said he had "much respect" for the "full bloods" but that "half castes" had only "greed and hatred".

The term "half caste" was used in laws during early colonisation in Victoria to identify Indigenous children with a non-Indigenous parent and justify the separation of them from their communities.

The state's Yoorrook Justice Commission found laws that allowed Indigenous children to be forcibly removed from their families and culture constituted an act of "genocide".

Djaran Murray-Jackson, who is the co-chair of Victoria's Treaty body Gellung Warl, backed the Liberal Party's decision to disendorse Mr Lindemann.

"The right decision has been made in withdrawing support from a candidate who uses racist and dehumanising terminology; language that was directly associated with harmful policies that inflicted real and lasting damage to our people," he said.

Liberal leader Jess Wilson said her party was not aware of the comments before Mr Lindemann was pre-selected and she found them deeply offensive.

"We moved immediately to disendorse Mr Lindemann because I have the highest standards for my team, for my MPs and for my candidates," she said

"I'm disappointed that we were not aware of the comments Mr Lindemann had made. Had we been aware, we would not have pre-selected him in the first place."

Mr Lindemann has been contacted for comment.

Tarneen Onus-Brown from First Nations advocacy organisation Common Threads said it was disheartening to see a candidate using "outdated racist language of 50 or 60 years ago".

"I'm not surprised that they've attracted somebody to their party that actually speaks like that because they don't want to support First Nations policy," she said.

"When they don't support First Nations justice and Treaty, as most Victorians do, then it's not surprising when this person is being racist on a burner Facebook account."

The Age had previously reported Mr Lindemann had been sanctioned over allegations he insulted and mocked a young basketball player while coaching the Bay City Lakers.

In a statement in response to that allegation, Mr Lindemann apologised for his actions and acknowledged he should have "handled the situation differently".

Ms Wilson was asked several times during a press conference today why he was not disendorsed over the basketball incident.

"Mr Lindemann apologised for the basketball incident, but further information came to light that does not meet the standards I accept from my candidates or my MPs," she said.

Ms Wilson conceded there was a possibility he may still be elected.

"That's a matter for the people of Williamstown, but he is not our candidate," she said.

Williamstown is currently held by Labor MP Melissa Horne.

Gill Gannon, the West Party candidate for Williamstown, said the campaign in the seat had now become "very dynamic" given Mr Lindemann's disendorsement.

"I'm not sure how it's all going to play out, we're in a very, very dynamic situation, with that situation at the moment," she told 774 ABC Melbourne.