Greens candidate says coward punch should be called a ‘brave punch’

A NSW Greens candidate who once campaigned to change the law to allow bestiality also said a coward punch should be called a ‘brave punch’.

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A NSW Greens candidate who once advocated to change the law to allow bestiality also said a coward punch should be called a “brave punch”.

Greens candidate for Summer Hill Tom Raue made the comment while making light of the tragic death of Sydney teenager Daniel Christie, who was coward punched in Kings Cross on New Year’s Eve in 2013.

Greens candidate Tom Raue tweeted a coward’s punch should be called a “brave punch”.

Daniel Christie was coward punched in Kings Cross on New Year’s Eve in 2013.

Days after the incident, which triggered the introduction of Sydney’s lockout laws, Mr Raue tweeted: “Going to punch somebody out of the blue is stupid and awful but it takes a lot of guts. I’d call it a brave punch”.

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The tweet has since been deleted.

Mr Raue admitted the tweet was a “foolish, off the hand remark and I apologise for that”.

“It was a five-year-old tweet and I deleted it some time ago,” he said.

“I did describe king hits as stupid and awful, I stand by that.”

It’s not the first time Mr Raue has been forced to explain controversial comments.

In a bizarre column published in a student newspaper in 2012, he advocated changing the law to allow humans to have “consensual sex with animals”.

Greens candidate Tom Raue.

But Mr Raue said he was just trying to be funny and the article was “clearly a joke”.

The activist and union organiser is campaigning on affordable housing, public transport and “ending the war on drugs” by pushing to legalise cannabis and MDMA.

Summer Hill is a safe Labor seat held by Jo Haylen on a 10.5 per cent margin.

Other candidates taking on Ms Haylen include the Liberals’ Leo Wei, Keep Sydney Open’s Andrea Markis and Teresa Romanovsky from the Animal Justice Party.