Preselection of Andrew Laming replacement prompts LNP branch chair to quit
The chair of the Bowman branch of Queensland’s Liberal National party has resigned after a man accused of fat shaming women in past social media messages was preselected to replace Andrew Laming as the candidate for the next election.
Henry Pike was the sole male contender in the five-way ballot on Sunday, and had the backing of the federal assistant minister for women, Amanda Stoker.
His victory prompted the resignation of the branch chair, Craig Luxton, in the hours after the vote.
The Courier-Mail reports Luxton told branch members he believed his time in the position had come to an end because he “cannot see a path to victory” and was not aligned to the newly preselected candidate.
An LNP spokesman told AAP that no date has been set for Bowman branch members to choose a new chair.
Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, reacted to Pike’s preselection on Facebook on Monday.
“This is the modern Liberal National party in Queensland – they choose the only male candidate in the race to replace Andrew Laming,” he said.
“And this man has a history of fat shaming women.”
Pike recently told Sky News he was a changed person after messages in a group chat from more than a decade ago were published following a complaint by a female LNP member.
“(It) states quite clearly in the Bible that f ****** a fat chick is a sin beyond redemption,” he allegedly wrote in a message reported by Sky News on Thursday.
In a subsequent statement, Pike told Sky: “Twelve years ago I was part of a private group chat that doesn’t reflect the person I’ve grown to be. Like lots of men, I’m embarrassed about some of the things I said when I was younger and would never say today.”
Earlier this year Laming said he would not re-contest his seat after taking a month of paid medical leave to seek empathy training ordered by the prime minister, Scott Morrison.
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Morrison ordered his MP to apologise and characterised his online behaviour as “disgraceful”.
Laming had been accused of harassing two women from his electorate over several years but said he was a victim of character assassinations and his conduct towards women had been misrepresented.
He was also accused of taking an unsolicited photograph of a woman bending over at work while her underwear was exposed out the top of her shorts.
Laming said the police found no evidence of a criminal offence and that the photo was innocent and meant to show a woman working hard on the job.
He later revealed he’d been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and attributed some of his behaviour to that.