Anti-Liberal rants by Australian Energy Regulator frontman

The Australian Energy Regulator’s new public spokesman’s ­anti-Coalition Facebook posts have prompted the ­opposition to question the ­agency’s impartiality.

Federal Opposition energy spokesman Ted O'Brien. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

The Australian Energy Regulator’s new public spokesman ­labelled Peter Dutton a “f..king arsehole”, called Josh Frydenberg “corrupt” and described ­Coalition voters as “rednecks” and “bigots” in posts on his Facebook account, prompting the ­opposition to question the ­agency’s impartiality.

Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien has called for an investigation into the AER’s decision to hire the media and communications ­adviser, despite his Facebook account being ­restricted over “repeated violations of community standards”.

In a series of posts obtained by The Weekend Australian, the employee was abusive towards members of the Liberal and ­National parties. On election night he posted: “Rednecks, bigots, misogynists, anti-vaxers, climate change ­deniers, homophobes, judgemental pseudo-religious f..kwits – get f..ked and good night. Your representatives have been judged and found wanting.”

He called Scott Morrison a “snot faced, pants-shitting, smirking, private school prefect f..kface”, and scoffed at claims Liberal values made the party successful. “Hah! Maybe once, but now your values are self-­aggrandisement, self-preservation and a desperation to push American-style self interest into our daily lives.”

Mr O’Brien said the comments were “distressing” and called for the “graphic” public commentary to be looked into.

“It’s disappointing that during the same week Anthony ­Albanese has drawn attention to the increasingly volatile nature of political exchanges online that we see such a hyper-partisan and vulgar display from a senior ­employee at the AER,” he said.

“I believe the graphic views expressed online by this AER representative are distressing and warrant a review.”

Liberal senator Hollie ­Hughes said she would raise the issue in a Senate estimates hearing on Monday. “Energy is one of the biggest issues across the country and during estimates we will be examining a whole raft of issues, including the Australian Energy Regulator,” she said.

“Obviously, we will be having a close look at this recent ­appointment in light of a number of comments he has posted on social media platforms.”

An AER spokesman said the employee had made the comments before he was hired by the regulator. “The Australian Energy Regulator has been made aware of social media posts made by a contractor who has been working with the AER for little over a month,” he said. “The social media posts predate their work with the AER. The AER was not aware of the posts and it is our understanding that the posts were not publicly available. All AER staff are required to adhere to the Australian Public Service social media guidelines.”

Energy Minister Chris Bowen failed to respond to requests for comment on Friday.