One Nation contender spruiks ‘fake news’ on jihadis and Labor

One Nation candidate posted digitally altered image of a fake news story to his campaign page.

While the cause of last week’s blaze remains unclear, at no point have French authorities said the cathedral fire was the result of terrorism or deliberate arson. Picture: AFP

A One Nation candidate has been caught sharing fake news that claims the Notre Dame cathedral fire is linked to jihadi terrorism and that, if elected, Labor will introduce Islamic law.

Paul Henselin, One Nation’s candidate in the seat of Fairfax in Queensland, posted a digitally altered image of a fake news story to his official campaign page on Wednesday.

“Three days ago, a Muslim woman in Paris, France, was arrested for planning a terrorist attack at Notre Dame Cathedral,” the image reads. “Today, three days later, Notre Dame is IN FLAMES. And this is a Holy Week. Western civilisation is literally burning before our eyes.”

Mr Henselin wrote alongside the image: “This country better wake up fast. Stop acting passive and understand anyone not a believer in this ideology is an infidel.”

While the cause of last week’s blaze remains unclear, at no point have French authorities said the cathedral fire was the result of terrorism or deliberate arson.

Investigators say all signs point to an accident.

The image posted by Mr Henselin uses the headline of a real news story posted on Irish website thejournal.iein a bid to mislead Facebook users and gain credibility.

The actual news article from April 12 — “France jails ‘jihadist’ woman (22) accused over foiled 2016 terror attack in Paris” — concerns a young woman convicted of encouraging would-be jihadists to go to Syria. The woman is also ­alleged to have been involved in a foiled plot to blow up a car near Notre Dame three years ago, and is due in French court on September 23.

This isn’t the only Facebook post by the 52-year-old One ­Nation candidate to spark controversy. On Good Friday eve, Mr Henselin posted a photoshopped image of Bill Shorten wearing an Arab headdress that said “Vote 1 for sharia law”. It has been shared more than 350 times.

In another post featuring a picture of Muslim Labor MP Anne Aly, he claimed Labor wanted to introduce “sharia law by stealth” by creating laws to prevent people from “offending Islam”.

On his personal Facebook page, Mr Henselin shared a post from the “Love or Leave Australia Party” that claims at least 15 Labor seats are “now in the hands of ­Islamic voters”.

Mr Henselin has also made multiple attacks on Labor senator Penny Wong, including posting an image that reads: “Lesbian ALP senator Penny Wong supports ­Islamic immigration” and “The Koran instructs moslems (sic) to kill homosexuals”.

Another image he shared has “WONG2” written in red on a picture of Chinese billionaire political donor Huang Xiangmo and repeats false claims that he is related to Senator Wong.

Mr Henselin has refused to answer questions about what he had shared on his official Facebook page. His mobile phone was turned off and he did not respond to emails yesterday.

Labor wrote to Facebook last week demanding it investigate. Facebook told Labor it was aware of the misleading material and would monitor it.