After saying he was offended by a Nazi slur from a former MP, the Witness can reveal the Shooters Party’s Matthew Stadtmiller has used Nazi slurs on others in the past.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the Shooters party now want to distance themselves from the controversy.
The Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party candidate for Cootamundra Matthew Stadtmiller has used Nazi slurs on his Facebook account and in his newspaper despite demanding former Cootamundra MP Katrina Hodgkinson apologise to him over a Nazi slur.
Mr Stadtmiller likened Hilltops Council administrator Wendy Tuckerman to a Nazi in an editorial in the Twin Town Times on June 7, 2016.
“The Hilltops Council or more to the point administrator Wendy Tuckerman has been gifted emergency powers akin to those employed by the Nazi party,” Mr Stadtmiller wrote.
He also posted a Nazi slur of NSW Government Minister Paul Toole on his Facebook page.
National Party campaign manager for the Cootamundra by-election Ross Cadell has called for Mr Stadtmiller to be disendorsed by the Shooters party.
“If the Shooters candidate found the comment by an ex-member so offensive, then surely he must be disendorsed for this,” he said.
Ms Hodgkinson replied to the Stadtmiller’s candidacy through her official Twitter account with the phrase “Zig heil?”(sic).
The Nazi name calling reportedly incensed Mr Stadtmiller and fellow Shooter Robert Borsak with both calling for a formal apology from Ms Hodgkinson, and Deputy Premier John Barilaro.
“I have no idea why Ms Hodgkinson would try and associate me with such an abhorrent ideology,” Mr Stadtmiller said.
“My family ancestry is mostly English with the Stadtmiller side of my family coming here from Bavaria in the 1850s.”
But Ms Hodgkinson stood by her comment.
“The guy is just so radical; you should hear him speak ... It’s my comment; he’s made plenty of remarks about me. We have got the right to freedom of speech,” she said.
“I am surprised the Shooters endorsed him as their candidate.”
Mr Borsak said the Shooters will now try to move on from the events of the last few days.
“In the end, we reacted the way we did to the silly tweet from Katrina and we accept that, now we are going to move on from this,” he said.
“The Party will now deal with the issues in the Cootamundra electorate, forced council amalgamations, greyhounds, hospitals and health and education, we will shine some light on those topics in the coming days.”