LABOR BRANCH MEMBERS SPREAD GLADYS LIU CONSPIRACY MEME ON FACEBOOK
0Labor branch members spread Gladys Liu conspiracy meme on Facebook
A Facebook page managed by the president of a local Labor branch in Queensland has been sharing incendiary posts. including claims that Liberal MP Gladys Liu is a Chinese spy. an ABC investigation has found. The official Facebook page of the ALP branch in the Queensland electorate of Wright regularly shares pro Labor and anti government infographics. articles and memes. They include a post fuelling the conspiracy theory that Ms Liu. the federal member for the Victorian seat of Chisholm. is a spy. and others implying Liberal members including Prime Minister Scott Morrison are part of a group who use the parliamentary prayer room for sexual acts. The page. 'Labor for Wright'. was created in 2013 and is co run by the president of the ALP's Boonah branch. Julie Jackson. She has also served as campaign manager for former federal Labor candidate Sharon Murakami. The page has around 850 followers and does not include a political authorisation. It currently describes itself as 'the Labor page for our region' and states that the Boonah branch meets once a month. In a post from April 19. a picture of Ms Liu is superimposed on a tweet raising questions about her links to Nick Zhao — a man who claimed he was offered $1 million by a suspected Chinese spy to infiltrate the Australian parliament. The words 'I spy with my little eye' have been added to the image. Ms Liu has been the subject of sustained attacks for failing to disclose her membership of organisations linked to the Chinese Communist Party. but has insisted the links are innocent. In another post from April 18. a picture of the Prime Minister is shown above a list titled 'Prayer Group'. featuring around 20 conservative members of the government. One commenter implied the members were part of a group who use the parliamentary prayer room for sexual acts. referencing a Channel 10 report from last year that alleged the room was used for sex. but did not explicitly name any politician. High profile YouTuber Jordan Shanks. aka FriendlyJordies. has since published a document prepared by law firm Sparke Helmore that named three politicians involved in the alleged events. The document does not name the Prime Minister. A third post shared by the page on April 19 highlights misogynistic comments by LNP candidate Glenn Doyle. who in 2018 said he was 'on the fence' over whether married women should be allowed to get an education. The Labor for Wright page goes further. commenting that Mr Doyle's views 'showcased the LNP attitude to women really well... you know the 'swinging dicks' club in Canberra. masturbating over women staffers' desks. ignoring rapists etc'. Other posts on the page include political memes. information about Labor's policies. and pictures from local campaign events. The page also organises and promotes meet and greets with current Labor candidate Pam McCreadie. Read more In a statement. a spokesperson for the ALP said the Facebook page 'is not an official or authorised page. and we do not endorse its content'. The spokesperson also said the party had alerted Facebook and requested the page be removed. 'Facebook is responsible for applying its terms and conditions to unauthorised pages.' the spokesperson wrote. On Thursday ALP Boonah branch president Julie Jackson told the ABC that someone from the ALP team asked her to take down three posts. She did not respond to detailed written questions about her role in running Labor for Wright. The ALP did not respond to direct questions about why it did not ask Ms Jackson to remove the page. On Thursday. the page had removed the Gladys Liu post and changed its name from 'Labor for Wright' to 'Labor for Wright Supporters — Boonah Branch'. Balmain branch caught out The revelations come after another page. 'Balmain Labor'. was caught sharing anti Semitic and misogynist memes. The Daily Telegraph found that the page described itself as the 'official page of the Australian Labor Party Balmain Branch'...
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