Rebecca Lloyd, One Nation’s candidate for the Queensland federal seat of Brisbane, has been disendorsed by the party just days after it was revealed the Australian Electoral Commission was investigating a Facebook page linked to her.
On Friday, Lloyd’s candidate page on the One Nation website, and her associated One Nation Facebook page were removed by the party. She posted an “urgent SOS” video on the Fair Business Australia Facebook page, claiming her profiles had been removed by One Nation after a dispute over her response to news reports on the AEC probe.
“I produced a video where I demanded a retraction from the statements and a retraction from the stories. I was asked to pull that video down and I refused to pull that video down,” she said. “I was then asked again urgently to pull that video down and I did not pull that video down. And now if you go to search for me through any of the One Nation channels, you will not find me there.”
A One Nation spokesperson confirmed Lloyd had been disendorsed by the party on Friday.
“Her unwillingness to work with and follow direction from One Nation’s executive as part of this team has led to the regrettable, but unanimous, decision to disendorse Ms Lloyd as the party’s candidate for Brisbane.”
On Tuesday, Guardian Australia reported the AEC was examining a Facebook page called “Join the Conversation”, which describes itself as a community page connecting people with minor candidates. The page did not carry an authorisation statement required for political content from parties or candidates. A domain search for its associated website shows it is registered to Lloyd, and a company called Fair Business Australia.
In the video, Lloyd claimed she was “being attacked by the Greens party and MSM” and she had recorded a call she made with the AEC claiming they had not heard of her, and she claimed she was not being investigated by the AEC.
An AEC spokesperson told Guardian Australia on Tuesday the page would be examined.
“There are potential civil penalties [for not including an authorisation statement] but our first port of call is always to get it corrected. If it’s needed, we’d get in contact with them and ask them to apply one.”
Lloyd has cited Join the Conversation and Fair Business Australia – previously known as “No Vax Id” – on her Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
Lloyd’s profile of the site says the former singer turned small business consultant stands for “ending all mandates and ensuring unelected bureaucrats never interfere with our freedoms again”.
One Nation has very little time to find a replacement, with candidate nominations closing on 21 April.
The party had said it was running candidates in all 151 electorates.
