A Facebook page linked to a United Australia Party's candidate in Canberra was deactivated after a party colleague's racist and homophobic comments were exposed.
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The personal account of Glen Hodgson, the candidate for the electorate of Fenner in the ACT's north, disappeared on Friday morning.
His page was available on the platform at 7.30am. Less than 10 minutes later, all Facebook posts belonging to the Clive Palmer-backed candidate were deleted from the website.
The party's official page for the seat of Fenner remains online.
Earlier, the ABC revealed racist and homophic Facebook posts by Tony Hanley, the party's candidate for the southern Canberra seat of Bean.
Mr Hanley had called Saudi Arabians "tea-towel heads" and the children of taxi drivers "future terrorists".
In one post, he referred to lesbians as "fem-nasties", "dykes" and "big fat fugly chicks".
In another, he wrote that gays, lesbians and transgender people were the "most horrible people ever in my life".
The Facebook account linked to Mr Hanley has also been deactivated.
Mr Hanley's LinkedIn account also says he received the Canberra citizen of the year award in 2013, when the actual recipient was paediatrician Sue Packer.
When contacted by The Canberra Times, Mr Hodgson referred media inquiries to his party's head office.
Comment has been sought from Mr Hanley and the party's headquarters.
The Liberal Party has a preference deal with the United Australia Party. Both parties have agreed to direct preferences towards each other's candidates.
The preference deal is in place across the ACT as part of a national agreement.
Andrew Brown
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
