Rise Up hopeful defends media posts

Rise Up Australia candidate for O’Connor Stephen Carson has defended his controversial views including social media posts about Islam and supporting conspiracies about the Port Arthur Massacre and September 11 attacks.

Mr Carson, one of six candidates vying for the Federal seat this Saturday, has made several inflammatory posts on his Facebook about Islam, same-sex marriage and gun laws.

Earlier this year, Mr Carson posted on social media that, “Islam is a horrible cult that degrades women and stifles freedom of religion.”

Despite the sizeable Islamic community in O’Connor, particularly in areas such as Katanning, Mr Carson said he believed his view was shared locally.

“Probably the majority of (people) would agree but clearly some would not,” he said.

“Most people I talk to about Islam don’t like it.”

However, Mr Carson said he had not spoken to members of the Katanning community about this view.

In April, Mr Carson suggested the Port Arthur massacre was a conspiracy to justify Australia’s current gun laws and said Australia should have a right to bear arms.

“I think to take guns off the people is not good, people should have a right to bear arms to defend themselves if necessary,” he said.

“An armed society tends to be a polite society.”

Rise Up Australia National secretary Yvonne Gentle said Mr Carson’s word choice may be questionable but he was entitled to his own opinion.

“His adjectives might be a bit strong,” she said.

“As long as he doesn’t mention the party or never hints they are the views of the party that’s OK.”

Ms Gentle said the RUA party also stood for relaxed gun policies and believed Islamic culture degraded women and prevented freedom.

Mr Carson has suggested climate change is a hoax to push further taxes such as the carbon tax.

“The climate changes all the time. It’s cool now but it is warming up and tonight it will be cool again. It’s change, change happens and it’s reality,” he wrote.

“One reason for this climate change push is so we can have more taxes.”