Shaun Gilchrist: Nationals candidate who died was facing rape charges

Victorian Nationals candidate Shaun Gilchrist, who died unexpectedly over the weekend, was facing charges of rape and sexual assault.

The Nationals' candidate for Narracan, Shaun Gilchrist. Picture: Facebook

Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy and Nationals leader Peter Walsh have both refused to answer repeated questions regarding the preselection of a Nationals candidate in the state election who was facing rape and sexual assault charges when he took his own life over the weekend.

The unexpected death of the Nationals candidate for the west Gippsland seat of Narracan, Shaun Gilchrist, has prompted the Victorian Electoral Commission to declare a “failed election”, meaning voters in the seat will need to vote for upper house candidates in Saturday’s poll, but will have to vote in a “supplementary election” after polling day, which could delay the election result.

The Australian has confirmed via multiple sources that Mr Gilchrist was due to face the County Court next week for a pre-trial hearing, ahead of a trial that had been set for June.

Police confirmed the body of a 47-year-old man was found in bushland near Rawson, 170km east of Melbourne, at 4.15pm on Sunday. They said the death was “not being treated as suspicious”.

At a lunch in Melbourne to promote a suite of Coalition policies, Mr Walsh repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether or not the Coalition was aware that Mr Gilchrist was accused of rape before he died.

“You can keep asking me but I am going to respect those specific requests (that Mr Gilchrist’s family asked for privacy),” he said.

“So we are talking about the widow and two young children who have lost their father. I think I owe them the respect that they’ve asked for not to talk about these ­issues that will be on TV tonight or in the future.”

He also refused to say if the party confronted Mr Gilchrist about the charges, or if they were considering disendorsing Mr Gilchrist or asking him to stand down.

Mr Guy said: “Whatever the situation is, someone has died and there is now a widow and two children whose father is not coming home.”

Both leaders said different review committees for the National and Liberal parties scrutinise their respective candidates.

Mr Guy said he had not asked any questions of the committee to clarify how Mr Gilchrist could be preselected. “(He has) passed away. It is pretty tragic,” he said.

Narracan is held by retiring Liberal Gary Blackwood, with a notional margin of 11.1 per cent, with Liberal candidate Wayne Farnham considered the frontrunner for the seat.

Daniel Andrews, meanwhile, began Monday campaigning alongside Anthony Albanese and without the media in Melbourne’s inner southeast, before travelling to the Brown Brothers winery in northeast Victoria to make a $30m agriculture, food and wine announcement.

“We’re about creating a better future rather than letting the ­future shape us, and that’s what Dan’s done,” the Prime Minister told ALP supporters in a video that was posted to social media by Mr ­Andrews.

“He hasn’t wasted a day in government. What we need is Labor people working with Dan as part of a progressive Labor government that is leading the country in so many areas – that is at risk this ­Saturday.”

Mr Andrews on Monday refused to apologise over Labor’s repeated claims that the Liberal Party is preferencing “Nazis” in Saturday’s Victorian election.

The Premier and his deputy ­Jacinta Allan over the weekend ­repeatedly used the word to smear their opponents, but failed to detail any instance of the Coalition preferencing extremists in winnable positions.

Asked on Monday afternoon whether he regretted using the word “Nazi”, Mr Andrews said: “Not at all. I regret that I have to. I regret that the Liberal Party are in a political partnership with ­absolute extremists.”

Mr Andrews also stood by his candidate in the inner city seat of Richmond, Lauren O’Dwyer, amid allegations from her own relatives and members of the First People’s Assembly that her claims to Indigenous heritage are bogus.

“I think that cultural identity is a very complex thing,” the Premier said.

If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, call: Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au; Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or beyondblue.org.au