Labor alter how-to-vote card after preferencing antisemitic Legalise Cannabis Canning candidate

Labor has changed their how-to-vote card in the WA seat of Canning after they preferenced a now-dumped Legalise Cannabis candidate who made antisemitic comments online third.

The minor party’s Paul Gullan had shared a string of posts, including one which accused Israel of “playing the victim” in the Hamas-led October 7 terror attack.

He also shared a cartoon to Facebook of Hitler passing a swastika-branded, bloodied baton to Benjamin Netanyahu in a race, with a caption reiterating views that “Hitler was doing the world a favour by exterminating the Jews.”

While stating he didn’t “subscribe to these beliefs” online, Mr Gullan added that Jewish people need to “execute their leaders”, “if Jews want to maintain their rights as victims of a holocaust.”

Mr Gullan was disendorsed on Tuesday after questions from The West Australian, with a party spokesman saying the content did not align with their values.

While Labor’s Canning candidate Jarrad Goold declined to comment, the party’s WA State secretary Ellie Whiteaker told The West Australian the party had reviewed their preferences.

“Immediately upon being made aware of comments from Mr Gullan, WA Labor changed our how to vote cards in Canning,” she said.

Incumbent Liberal MP Andrew Hastie is now third on Labor’s list — parallel with where Mr Hastie had initially placed Mr Goold — followed by Citizens Party’s John Raymond Carey in fourth.

Mr Gullan is now fifth, just ahead of One Nation’s Fernando Bove in sixth spot.

In his online commentary, Mr Gullan had also stated several times he doesn’t smoke weed, despite running to represent a party whose base policy is to decriminalise its use.

“I joined the Legalise Cannabis WA Party tonight, even though I do not like Marijuana,” he posted on February 1.

Three weeks later he again said: “I drink and don’t smoke weed, as a personal preference.”

In another post in December, Mr Gullan said Labor had been a “f**k wit” for turning down a Greens coalition and labelled the party as “scared little nancy boys and girls” after Bill Shorten’s shock loss in the 2019 election.

The seat has been in Liberal hands since 2001 and for the majority of time since its creation in 1949.

Mr Hastie won it in a by-election in 2015, after the death of former member Don Randall.

In 2022 he was elected with a 3.6-point margin.