Ross MacDonald: One Nation candidate unrepentant for racist Aboriginal ‘joke’

A One Nation candidate for the seat of Herbert has confirmed that he is the same man who posted a horrid racist joke on social media ahead of his unsuccessful campaign for Leichhardt in 2019.

One Nation top senate candidate Malcolm Roberts fields questions about racist and sexist Facebook posts outside the pre-polling booth on Grafton St in Cairns in 2019. Picture: Chris Calcino

A One Nation candidate for the seat of Herbert in North Queensland has confirmed that he is the same man who posted a horrid racist joke on social media ahead of his unsuccessful campaign for Leichhardt in 2019.

An unrepentant Ross MacDonald from Cairns said on Sunday that he refused to apologise for the deeply offensive ‘joke’ about using Aboriginal people as crocodile bait.

Mr MacDonald said the publicity surrounding the incident – which included sleazy social-media posts of pictures taken in bars in Thailand – was good for his 2019 campaign in which he secured 5,428 votes, just 6.05 per cent of the total.

“Believe it or not it didn’t go against me, it went for me,” he said.

One Nation candidate for Leichhardt Ross Macdonald has since deleted a racist Facebook post in which he joked about using Aboriginal people as crocodile bait. Picture: Supplied

Mr MacDonald said he still did not regret posting the ‘joke’.

“No, no, because that is another thing, we are losing our identity as Australians because it is just not the way we grew up,” he said.

“We were all able to joke at each other all my life growing up, we used to tell Pommy jokes in the pub, Irish jokes in the pub and the Pommies and the Irish would tell Australian jokes … it was just the way things were.”

One Nation’s candidate for Leichhardt Ross Macdonald’s social media account contains several questionable images with sexist overtones. Picture: Supplied

Mr MacDonald said that today it was too easy to “hurt” people.

“It’s just rubbish, absolute rubbish, we’ve lost our way, as Australians we’ve lost our way and it’s not a good thing.”

He said it was an international phenomenon.

“It’s not just Australia, obviously, we all know what’s going on, it’s been going on for a very long time, slowly, slowly, but there was no harm, nobody felt offended like they do these days, it’s just bullshit, I’m just over it.”

One Nation’s candidate for Leichhardt Ross Macdonald's social media account contains several questionable images with sexist overtones. PICTURE: FACEBOOK

Mr Macdonald, during his campaign in 2019, said the joke posted in 2011 was “regrettable”, “not in good taste” and “not something that should be shared in public” but denied it was racist.

A carpenter by trade who lived in Townsville during his 10 years’ service in the Army, Mr MacDonald said both Townsville and Cairns had issues with youth crime.

“I feel safer in the streets of Bangkok than I do in Cairns ... it’s not the way things should be.”

He also bemoaned renewable energy, saying he was pro-nuclear power.

One Nation candidate for Herbert Ross Macdonald. Picture: Supplied

Mr MacDonald said he was a last-minute selection for Herbert, saying he would have preferred to have run in Cairns but there was already a One Nation candidate running.

He said he had not been back to Thailand since 2016 because of Covid and had separated from his former Thai partner.

One Nation has been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Ross MacDonald: One Nation candidate unrepentant for racist Aboriginal ‘joke’