‘Hitler Is The GOAT’: One Nation Dumps Preston Candidate Over Shocking Holocaust Posts Just Hours After Coalition Confirmed It Would Send Preferences To Pauline Hanson’s Party
- One Nation has cut ties with Franco Guardiani, its candidate for the knife-edge Labor seat of Preston, after social media posts emerged appearing to hail Adolf Hitler as “the GOAT”.
- The scandal broke only hours after Opposition Leader Jess Wilson confirmed the Coalition would rank One Nation above Labor, the Greens and the Victorian Socialists on its how-to-vote cards.
- Guardiani did not deny the accounts were his. He defended his posts on free speech grounds and shrugged off his sacking.
- One Nation admits its candidate vetting is not good enough. It is the second time this campaign the party has been forced to dump a Melbourne candidate.
Victoria’s Jewish community is living through a period of fear it has not known in generations.
Yet with fewer than three weeks before voters go to the polls, a man seeking a seat in the state parliament was found to have celebrated the architect of the Holocaust online.
The fallout has been swift. It has also been politically explosive.
One Nation has dropped Franco Guardiani as its standard-bearer in Preston, a northern suburbs seat Labor holds by a slim 2.1 per cent. Posts circulating on social media showed Guardiani apparently describing Hitler as “the GOAT”, internet shorthand for the greatest of all time.
Speaking to the ABC, Guardiani confirmed the accounts belonged to him. He did not apologise.
He said the party was entitled to do as it saw fit, and argued that people should be free to voice their opinions and question things.
Warren Pickering, One Nation’s Victorian leader, moved quickly to distance the party. He said Jewish Australians were facing “unprecedented persecution” and that the party was appalled by the comments.
Pickering said Guardiani was “no longer part of our party” and warned that anyone holding such views had no place in One Nation.
The party has also conceded something more damaging: its vetting process needs work.
That admission carries weight. Guardiani is not the first candidate to go.
One Nation was earlier forced to abandon its candidate for the seat of Melbourne over misogynistic social media posts.
The timing of the latest scandal could hardly be worse for the Opposition.
Only hours before the posts surfaced, Jess Wilson confirmed the Coalition would place Labor, the Greens and the Victorian Socialists at the bottom of its how-to-vote cards, with every other party ranked above them.
That decision effectively puts One Nation ahead of the governing party.
Wilson said preferences would be decided electorate by electorate, with due diligence on each candidate. Her message to voters was blunt: only a first preference for the Liberals and Nationals could change the government.
Labor seized on the moment. Medical Research Minister Anthony Carbines said Labor was taking a “principled stand” by putting One Nation last.
He accused the Liberals of quietly courting Hanson’s party with a view to governing alongside it, calling the arrangement “nudge-nudge wink-wink”.
The Preston controversy lands in a campaign the Victorian Electoral Commission has called the biggest and most complex state election yet. When nominations closed, 734 candidates had registered for the 88 lower house seats and 303 for the upper house.
Victorians vote on November 28.
For One Nation, the contest is a test of whether its surge in support can survive serious scrutiny. Pickering, who is running in Pakenham, has spent the campaign insisting his party is “more than vibes”.
He has also had to deal with a string of distractions.
These include his own admission of past drug use and a candidate’s call to see former premiers Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan “in jail by Christmas”.
Pickering said that comment did not reflect party policy.
Meanwhile federal Liberal leader Angus Taylor flew into Melbourne to campaign beside Wilson, promising voters a “fresh start”.
Analysis: What This Means for Australia
The Guardiani affair is about more than one candidate. It goes to the heart of social cohesion at a time when antisemitism across Australia has reached alarming levels.
Synagogues, Jewish schools and community centres have faced threats and attacks in recent years. Law enforcement agencies have repeatedly warned that online hate can spill into real-world violence.
When someone seeking public office treats Hitler as a figure of admiration, it signals to extremists that such views are becoming acceptable in mainstream politics.
The national security dimension is significant.
Counter-terrorism authorities, including ASIO, have warned that young Australians are being radicalised online and drawn into extremist movements on both the left and the right.
Political parties are, in effect, gatekeepers. When their vetting fails, extremist sentiment can find a platform and some legitimacy.
There are also consequences for how Australia governs itself. Preference deals decide outcomes in marginal seats.
If a major party sends preferences to a minor party that cannot reliably screen its candidates, voters may unknowingly help people with dangerous views move closer to power.
For communities in Melbourne’s north, among the most multicultural electorates in the country, the episode is likely to deepen distrust of the political class.
Political analysts say the episode exposes a fundamental weakness in fast-growing minor parties. Rapid expansion means fielding candidates in dozens of seats, often with little time to examine years of online activity.
Community advocates warn that apologies and quick sackings are not enough. They argue that rigorous vetting before candidates are announced should be standard practice for any party seeking a role in government.
Election observers believe the Coalition’s preference strategy will now come under intense pressure. Some suggest Wilson’s case-by-case approach could become a liability if further revelations surface before polling day.
Security analysts also say it matters that the posts were public and easy to find. In their view, this suggests the problem was not that the posts were hidden but that no one looked properly.
With 18 days left in the campaign, one question remains: is Preston the last of these scandals, or only the latest?