A Canberra Liberals candidate posted derogatory material about federal politicians, endorsed posts that described the Voice referendum as a "sham" and called for a "push back" against Indigenous reconciliation efforts.
Darren Roberts, who has been endorsed as a Liberal candidate in Ginninderra, had a publicly available Facebook profile operated under a nom de plume.
Mr Roberts' posts, seen by The Canberra Times, include derogatory statements about progressive politicians and, in at least one instance, compared revealing male fashion to a "mental illness".
Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee said she had no knowledge of the Facebook page.
"The shared posts by Mr Roberts are not the position of the Canberra Liberals," a spokesman for Ms Lee said.
A spokesperson for the Liberal Party said: "Personal social media accounts and posts of candidates do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Party."
But a personal account belonging to Ms Lee was friends with Mr Roberts' account, screenshots obtained by The Canberra Times showed.
A spokesman said: "Ms Lee has not been active on her personal Facebook account for a number of years."
Neither Ms Lee nor the party spokesman confirmed whether Mr Roberts had declared the existence of the page when he nominated for preselection. Candidates are asked to note their social media profiles.
Ms Lee did not answer a question about whether it was appropriate for Mr Roberts to remain an endorsed candidate.
Deputy Liberal leader Leanne Castley on Wednesday said neither she nor the party held Mr Roberts' views and it was not her decision whether Mr Roberts should remain an endorsed candidate.
"They're not my opinions. I certainly don't hold those opinions and neither do the Canberra Liberals," Ms Castley said on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr called on Ms Lee to act against Mr Roberts following the "serious reports of racist and offensive content".
"While it's clear there is still a deeply held conservatism within Liberals, this goes beyond. It's hateful and vile," Mr Barr wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
In one post, Mr Roberts shared an image of independent senator Lidia Thorpe captioned: "Good news, my IQ test came back negative."
In another, Mr Roberts shared a digitally altered image of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with the word "dick" painted on Mr Albanese's forehead.
"I'm offended as well! Let's push back!!!!" Mr Roberts wrote when he shared a long post in June 2023 criticising Indigenous recognition and reconciliation efforts in Australia.
The post, in part, said: "Let me say that I am tired of hearing every day that we invaded this country. Let me say that I'm tired of being told that this is their country by the politicians, media and so on. Could you please imagine what this country would be like without those who now call Australia home?"
The post went on and said: "I'm also offended by the nonsensical Welcome to Country ceremonies that are being held every day somewhere in this country, which is again paid for by the Australian taxpayer."
During the Voice to Parliament referendum campaign, Mr Roberts shared a series of material urging a "no" vote and questioning the motivations of the federal government in supporting the Voice.
The federal Liberal party adopted a strong "no" position during the referendum campaign, while the Canberra Liberals had a free vote. Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee backed a "yes" vote, while then deputy leader Jeremy Hanson supported the "no" campaign.
A post shared by Mr Roberts in September 2023 said: "No to the voice - But how about a full investigation into the where the 35 billion dollars that goes into the Aboriginal 'industry' each year ends up!" Mr Roberts captioned the image: "Where's all the money they get from the mines in WA go. I've heard they get millions a year."
In July 2024, Mr Roberts shared an image of a figure with a thought bubble that said, "How can a city be renamed with an Aboriginal place name when it didn't exist until the colonists built it?"
In January, Mr Roberts wrote "So true!!!!" above a photograph of a jellyfish that had been captioned: "The fact that jellyfish have survived for thousands of years despite not having brains is great news for the Australian Greens."
In April, Mr Roberts shared an image of a pregnant woman talking to a doctor, which had speech bubbles superimposed. The woman asks, "Is it a boy or a girl?" The doctor responds, "We'll let the kindergarten teacher decide." Mr Roberts captioned the image: "The future of the ACT government social experiment!!!!"
The Canberra Times sent questions about the posts to Mr Roberts through the Canberra Liberals. The Facebook page has now been made private.
Mr Roberts' candidate profile, published by the Canberra Liberals, said the candidate had grown up and lived in Canberra for more than 50 years.
"I'm running in this election because I am a passionate Canberran who's tired of seeing this great city fall apart over 23 years of neglect and bad planning," the profile said.
Mr Roberts said families in his electorate had told him the government was tired and had lost focus. "We don't need vanity projects, we need genuine investment in our local utilities and basic services like education, health, and policing," Mr Roberts' profile said.
Mr Roberts in March said he was not driving when he filmed video of a road apparently from the driver's side of a moving car. The Canberra Times does not suggest Mr Roberts broke the law.
In one shot, the video showed the approach to the roundabout at the intersection of John Cleland Crescent and Connah Street, Florey, facing out the right-hand side of the car with the driver's side mirror briefly visible.
The video was apparently filmed from Mr Roberts' grey Tesla Model Y, which is emblazoned with a photograph of his face and indicates Mr Roberts is a candidate for the Canberra Liberals.
