DAVID Paull has stood down as the Greens candidate for Parkes after the revelation of comments about the Port Arthur Massacre he'd posted on Facebook.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It comes after a report that revealed the candidate posted comments on Facebook in which he posited Martin Bryant didn't actually murder 35 people at Port Arthur in 1996.
READ MORE:
"There is only one sure thing in my mind - Bryant didn't do it and so a great crime on the Australian people was committed," he wrote.
The Greens announced Mr Paull had stood down as their candidate on Tuesday and said they will take down all campaigning material in his name.
"David absolutely rejects the views he is quoted as supporting, but has stood down so that he does not become a distraction from the important issues The Greens are focused on," a spokesman for The Greens said.
Mr Paull said he does not believe that Port Arthur was a conspiracy, nor does he have any doubt that Martin Bryant was guilty of the massacre.
"I support The Greens policies on gun control 100 per cent; I was only ever interested in that Facebook group to investigate the views of Port Arthur conspiracy theorists. I made those comments after an admin asked new members to justify their presence in the group," he said.
"I am incredibly embarrassed that these posts have become public and I apologise for misrepresenting myself in this way."