Vulgar Facebook posts have come back to haunt a Liberal candidate for the 2017 West Australian election, with the opposition leader calling for him to be dumped.
WA Labor leader Mark McGowan urged Premier Colin Barnett to act after abusive eight-year-old posts by Daniel Parasiliti, who is taking on former Labor state minister Michelle Roberts in the seat of Midland, emerged in a News Corp report on Sunday.
The posts include a graphic and demeaning sexual comment to a woman who challenged Mr Parasiliti's views about Kevin Rudd's 2008 apology to indigenous Australians.
Mr McGowan said it was common for online commentary to be irreverent, satirical and sarcastic, but Mr Parasiliti's posts were "beyond appalling".
"That sort of commentary is the sort of stuff that would make Donald Trump blush," he told reporters.
"If I was the premier, I'd be removing him as a candidate today.
"If the premier doesn't act, what I'd say to every female voter in Midland and every male voter who respects women: Don't vote for the Liberal Party."
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Asked about Mark Reed, a WA Labor Senate candidate who likened businesswoman Gina Rinehart to a Star Wars character in social media posts, Mr McGowan replied: "Attempts at humour sometimes fall flat."
Online posts opposing same-sex marriage and indigenous recognition ostensibly contributed to the downfall of a West Australian Liberal candidate in the federal election, Sherry Sufi.
He decided to step down as the party's candidate for Fremantle after a community newspaper revealed he was caught on tape in 2013 using crude sexual language while mocking his former boss, WA MP Michael Sutherland.
A spokeswoman for Mr Barnett declined to comment on Mr Parasiliti.
