Family First candidate disendorsed over social media posts
- Leonardo Puglisi
- Apr 14
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 15
Longman candidate Malachi Brogden Hearne will still appear on the ballot as a Family First candidate.
The Family First Party has disendorsed one of its federal election candidates after a series of comments he made on social media.
19-year-old Malachi Brogden Hearne, who describes himself as a "teenage political savant", had been selected to contest the LNP-held seat of Longman, but has now been disendorsed.
As candidate nominations have been closed, Hearne will still appear on the ballot with the Family First name.
Speaking to The Noticer, Hearne said comments leading to his disendorsement included:
"Two women cannot and should not raise children...lesbianism is disgusting" under a story about Matildas player Tameka Yallop and wife Kirsty announcing they are expecting second child.
A post saying Australia was "built solely by white Christian men".
"At least they're white" in response to South Australia Police hiring UK-based officers.
A post saying "White people need to start breeding like rabbits".
Hearne also told 6 News that the party had previously been asked him to remove posts that called homosexuality "degenerate".
"Family First, a party that claims to be Christian, takes umbrage to pro-Australia, pro-Christian rhetoric", he told 6 News in a statement.
Hearne's now-deleted candidate page on the Family First website had him described as someone who had "grown up with the constant bombardment of sexual degeneracy and knows firsthand the effects of a hyper-sexual, secular, and decadent culture".
It continued: "All too often, Christians, young people, working and middle class families have been ignored, politicians do not truly comprehend the problems facing these aforementioned groups. I will be the only candidate on the ballot in Longman focusing on the important issues".
6 News reached out to a Family First spokesperson, but the party chose not to comment. Family First national director Lyle Shelton, who is running for the Senate in New South Wales, will appear at a 6 News live election debate tomorrow night. The party is contesting the majority of House of Representative seats, including all Queensland-based electorates (although now with Longman as the exception).
Longman is currently held by Liberal National MP Terry Young, who most recently retained it with 53.1% of the two-party-preferred vote in 2022. The original Family First Party, which merged with the now-defunct Australian Conservatives in 2017, received 3.4% of the vote when it last contested Longman in 2016.
It's the latest federal election campaign disendorsement, following Benjamin Britton being dumped as the Liberal candidate for Labor-held Whitlam after comments resurfaced where he said women should not serve in Australian Defence Force combat roles.
Other minor party disendorsement and candidate withdrawals prior to the close of nominations this election include Queensland Senate candidates Chris Simpson (now running for FUSION) and Tom Tapping witdrawing as Australian Democrats candidates, Better Together Party job-sharing hopefuls Lucy Bradlow and Bronwyn Bock being tripped up by dual citizenship, Libertarian candidate Prem Wakeman withdrawing in Hunter after the party endorsed One Nation, and Sustainable Australia's Fenella Edwards being disendorsed.