‘Should be deported’: Row erupts after delivery driver kicks magpie

A Surf Coast councillor is standing firm after his controversial remark about a delivery driver who was filmed kicking a magpie.

A Surf Coast councillor is standing firm after his controversial remark about a delivery driver who was filmed kicking a magpie.

Adrian Schonfelder made a controversial comment on Thursday afternoon after watching a video posted to the Geelong Advertiser’s Facebook page, which showed an unidentified man with a blurred face delivering a package to a Grovedale home and then kicking a magpie.

The video quickly went viral, sparking an outpouring of outrage.

“If not born in Australia he should be deported,” Mr Schonfelder wrote under the clip.

Despite the backlash, the Winchelsea ward representative doubled down on his stance, defending his comment the following day.

He described the delivery driver’s actions as “un-Australian” and suggested that a public apology was the least the man should offer.

“It appeared to be an unprovoked attack and I think this behaviour is un-Australian,” he said.

“I do stand by the comment I made, that if he was not born in Australia, he should be deported because I believe you can only be deported if you’re not born in Australia.”

Mr Schonfelder stressed that his comment was not racially motivated.

Surf Coast Shire councillor Adrian Schonfelder suggested a delivery driver should be "deported" for kicking a magpie. Photo: Supplied/Facebook.

“I am not racist, I am intolerant of animal cruelty,” he stated. “I have a non-English speaking background, and I have friends from different ethnic backgrounds, religions and sexualities.”

This is not the first time the councillor has attracted controversy.

In 2010, while running for Labor in the federal Victorian seat of Flinders, Mr Schonfelder made headlines by accusing then-opposition leader Tony Abbott of “influencing people to take their own lives.”

Mr Schonfelder stressed that his comment was not racially motivated. Picture: Alan Barber

After being forced to retract the statement and apologise, Schonfelder resigned following a car accident just days later.

Further details about his political history were also revealed, including his reported time as a former Geelong Young Liberal. He joined the Labor party in 2002 after criticising the Liberals’ stance on ending logging in the Otways.

In the most recent Surf Coast council election, Mr Schonfelder attracted just one vote for the deputy mayor position — his own — as Libby Stapleton was elected to the role.

Mike Bodsworth ultimately won the mayoral vote, defeating Paul Barker.