‘Parasite’: Indigenous candidate targeted by white supremacists

Macnamara Liberal hopeful Benson Saulo has been called a “f*****g parasite”, had signs vandalised with swastikas and billboards defaced in racist and anti-Semitic attacks.

Indigenous Liberal candidate Benson Saulo, who is vying to represent Victoria’s largest Jewish community, has been targeted by white supremacists. Pictures: News Corp/Supplied

An Indigenous candidate vying to represent one of the country’s largest Jewish communities has been targeted by white supremacists, called a “f*****g parasite” and had his signs vandalised with swastikas.

Macnamara candidate Benson Saulo has had campaign billboards defaced with stickers reading “Australia for the White Man” and calling for people to join the National Socialist Network.

The group is a well-known neo-Nazi political organisation, whose members staged a racist rally outside Liberal Senator James Paterson’s Melbourne office on Sunday.

CCTV footage, obtained by the Herald Sun, has also captured two teenagers stealing one of Mr Saulo’s billboards from a front yard.

The former youth advocate and businessman, who served as Australia’s first Indigenous Consul General to the US, has also been on the receiving end of a series of abusive messages and threats.

Benson Saulo has been subjected to a barrage of threats. Picture: Richard Dobson / Newswire

Among the expletive messages was a man who labelled Mr Saulo a “piece of MAGA s — t” – referring to Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan – before threatening him.

“Should we ever meet, you shall understand how invasive your unsolicited tests are,” he wrote.

“Hope to see you at your next event you scumbag c**t.”

In another, a constituent messaged Mr Saulo on Facebook to tell him he was a “f*****g parasite” after receiving an unwanted call from his office.

Mr Saulo was recently forced to defend his progressive past, including an attempt at preselection for the Greens and an involvement in two other parties.

A decade on, the now-Liberal, who proudly describes himself as a Zionist — a person who believes in Israel’s right to exist — is hoping to capitalise on a protest vote within Melbourne’s Jewish community against Labor.

One of M Saulo’s defaced posters. Picture: Supplied

While the Liberals are expected to improve their primary vote in Macnamara, the seat is largely considered a race between Labor and the Greens.

Leading pollster Kos Samaras said the Liberal Party’s fortunes within inner urban Australia have been “on the decline over the last two months”, continuing a trend seen for more than a decade.

“As a result, it’s unlikely that the Liberal Party will secure a primary vote in the mid to high 40s, which it requires to win such a seat,” he said.

A decision by incumbent Labor MP Josh Burns, who is Jewish, not to preference the Greens and to run an open ticket instead, however, has given dedicated supporters of Mr Benson hope.

By positioning himself as the alternative pro-Israel voice, he has prompted previously politically uninterested Jews to mobilise across the electorate, erecting more than 500 Benson Saulo billboards and signs.

His identity as both an Indigenous man and a staunch supporter of Israel has also prompted ridicule from the Aboriginal community, which has largely tied itself to the pro-Palestine cause.

“Imagine being a black fella and running as a Liberal, and your number one policy is Zionism,” one Aboriginal man wrote on social media.

Mr Saulo told the Herald Sun the intertwining amid the Israel-Hamas war was “opportunistic” and has been pushed by a “radical group” who are trying to “rewrite history” and ignore the “many decades” of mutual support between the Jewish and Aboriginal community.

“For someone to equate Zionism as a bad thing, and use my identity as the anchor in that statement, it says there’s a portion of the Aboriginal community that have a lack of understanding of our own history as a people,” he said.