LazyLion
King of de Jungle
An Australian candidate quit the race for national parliament Tuesday after reports his personal website carried hundreds of lewd jokes, including a remark from him about "tit banter".
Conservative Liberal Party candidate Kevin Baker, who was standing for the New South Wales seat of Charlton in the September 7 polls, had earlier apologised for his forum site for Mini Cooper car enthusiasts and shut it down.
But he later advised he would not be running as a candidate in the election.
"I understand that while my name will still appear on the ballot paper, my campaign is over," Baker said in a statement.
"I deeply regret the posts made on my website and decided that it was not appropriate to continue as the Party's candidate."
The Sydney Daily Telegraph reported that the website included jokes about the Pope being a paedophile, and others making light of incest and child abuse and discussing scenarios in which women had sex on pool tables.
It said in one post Baker, who is the director of a children's charity, had written: "Seems a bit like 'Tit Banter'..."
"On the site I made comments that were inappropriate, which I deeply regret and for which I apologise unreservedly," Baker said in a statement earlier Tuesday.
"In the last few years I have also failed to moderate the site properly. A number of statements have been made by participants that are also completely inappropriate.
"I have now shut the offending site down."
The Labor government had called on opposition leader Tony Abbott, the frontrunner to become prime minister in next month's polls, to sever his ties with Baker.
Earlier this month Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd dumped a candidate for a safe seat in Victoria state over his verbal abuse of a disabled woman more than a decade ago.
Abbott acknowledged that Baker had "done the wrong thing" but had earlier refused to say whether he would withdraw his endorsement.
Charlton is a staunch Labor seat, and Baker would have needed a swing of more than 12 percent to win it for the Liberals.
Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 20 Aug 2013 10:56
Conservative Liberal Party candidate Kevin Baker, who was standing for the New South Wales seat of Charlton in the September 7 polls, had earlier apologised for his forum site for Mini Cooper car enthusiasts and shut it down.
But he later advised he would not be running as a candidate in the election.
"I understand that while my name will still appear on the ballot paper, my campaign is over," Baker said in a statement.
"I deeply regret the posts made on my website and decided that it was not appropriate to continue as the Party's candidate."
The Sydney Daily Telegraph reported that the website included jokes about the Pope being a paedophile, and others making light of incest and child abuse and discussing scenarios in which women had sex on pool tables.
It said in one post Baker, who is the director of a children's charity, had written: "Seems a bit like 'Tit Banter'..."
"On the site I made comments that were inappropriate, which I deeply regret and for which I apologise unreservedly," Baker said in a statement earlier Tuesday.
"In the last few years I have also failed to moderate the site properly. A number of statements have been made by participants that are also completely inappropriate.
"I have now shut the offending site down."
The Labor government had called on opposition leader Tony Abbott, the frontrunner to become prime minister in next month's polls, to sever his ties with Baker.
Earlier this month Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd dumped a candidate for a safe seat in Victoria state over his verbal abuse of a disabled woman more than a decade ago.
Abbott acknowledged that Baker had "done the wrong thing" but had earlier refused to say whether he would withdraw his endorsement.
Charlton is a staunch Labor seat, and Baker would have needed a swing of more than 12 percent to win it for the Liberals.
Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 20 Aug 2013 10:56