Liberal candidate deemed ‘not fit for office’ by Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann

A Liberal candidate who described far-right former senator Fraser Anning as “a god” is not “fit for office” according to a member of Victoria’s anti-racism task-force.

The rabbi who welcomed Scott Morrison to his Melbourne synagogue last week says a Liberal candidate who praised far-right former senator Fraser Anning as “a god” is not “fit for office”.

The Herald Sun revealed on Wednesday that Jadon Atkinson, the Liberal candidate in Cooper, had posted online in support of Mr Anning, who blamed Muslim immigration for the Christchurch mosque massacre and attended a far-right rally where Nazi salutes were given.

The Prime Minister refused to answer questions about Mr Atkinson, who retains the support of the Liberal Party after saying his comments “do not reflect my current views”.

But Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann told the Herald Sun: “If you are a racist or support racism, you should have no role in our parliament”.

Rabbi Kaltmann — who is also the Jewish Christian Muslim Association of Australia president and a member of Victoria’s anti-racism task-force — welcomed Mr Morrison to a Passover service at the Ark Centre in Hawthorn East last Friday.

Jadon Atkinson is the Liberal candidate for Cooper.

In 2018, several months before Mr Atkinson made his posts in a pro-Clive Palmer Facebook group, Mr Anning invoked the term “the final solution” to rally against immigration by Muslims and non-English speaking people.

Rabbi Kaltmann said these comments — as well as Mr Anning’s claim that the “real cause” of the Christchurch massacre was “the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand” — had “offended all decent members of multicultural Australia, especially members of our Islamic and Jewish communities”.

“No candidate of any party that has endorsed such comments is fit for office,” he said.

“This is not about politics, it’s about ensuring the fitness of candidates for the job.”

Rabbi Kaltmann who — welcomed Scott Morrison to a Passover service — says Jadon Atkinson is not fit for office. Picture: Jason Edward

Greens candidate Celeste Liddle, who is running against Mr Atkinson, blasted his preselection “in a seat named after a world celebrated Yorta Yorta anti-fascist” in William Cooper.

“Even if I wasn’t a candidate in this seat, as an Aboriginal woman I would still be disgusted by this preselection,” she said.

Macnamara Labor MP Josh Burns added: “Scott Morrison needs to explain why he’s keeping his Liberal candidate who glorified Fraser Anning’s racist views”.

Mr Atkinson had also complained online that Cooper had been “overrun by lefttards”, despite describing the inner-city electorate as a “great place” to live in his Liberal campaign profile.

He said his posts were made when he was a 17-year-old and he could “barely recall them, the timing or the context”.

Originally published as Liberal candidate deemed ‘not fit for office’ by Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann