A Greens candidate for the north-west NSW seat of Parkes has stood down, despite denying he questions the Port Arthur massacre.
David Paull posted on a Facebook page in November that he believed Martin Bryant hadn't been responsible for the killings, The Australian reported on Tuesday.
"There is only one sure thing in my mind -- Bryant didn't do it and so a great crime on the Australian people was committed," the comment read, according to the paper.
Mr Paull rejects that he espouses that view, but has stood down nonetheless.
"David absolutely rejects the views he is quoted as supporting, but has stood down to not become a distraction from the important issues The Greens are focused on," a NSW Greens spokesman said.
"The Greens will take down all campaigning material in his name."
The candidate has admitted to The Australian that he made the post but only in an effort to investigate Port Arthur conspiracy theorists.
"I made those comments after an admin asked new members to justify their presence in the group. I absolutely do not believe, and have never believed, that Port Arthur was a conspiracy, nor do I have any doubt Martin Bryant was guilty of that horrendous crime," he told the paper.
Greens senator for Tasmania Nick McKim says he wasn't impressed with the Facebook commentary.
"I was appalled by those comments, they've got no place in our party. That's why the candidate has now stood down and I'm very pleased that he has," he told reporters in Hobart.
The party will review its processes for checking over candidates on the other side of the election, the senator added.
"I think you could mount an argument that every single political party could improve its vetting processes."
