Australian prime minister rejects candidate's Islam posts

Australia's prime minister said his Liberal Party rejected the anti-Muslim views of an election candidate who on Friday became the third to lose the conservative party's endorsement in as many days over their social media histories.

The scandals surrounding candidates have become distractions for Prime Minister Scott Morrison and opposition leader Bill Shorten this week as they attempt to focus voters on policies ahead of the May 18 election.

Candidates for both the Liberal Party and the center-left Labor Party opposition quit on Friday over their online pasts.

Morrison had stood by Jessica Whelan, a Liberal candidate for the House of Representatives in Tasmania state, amid accusations on Thursday she made anti-Muslim posts on social media.

Morrison said screenshots of Whelan's comments appeared to have been doctored and a complaint had been made to police.

But Whelan stepped aside Friday over further posts published in a newspaper overnight, conceding that she was responsible for some of them.

The Mercury newspaper in Tasmania reported that a 2017 post called for a national vote on whether Muslims should be allowed into Australia.

Another post reportedly argued that refugees from Syria and Iraq should not be resettled in Tasmania.

Morrison said neither he nor his party accepted her views.

"Her views were her views and they do not represent the views of the party I lead," Morrison told reporters.

Another Liberal candidate, Jeremy Hearn, was dumped by the party Wednesday after a series of anti-Muslim comments came to light.

The House candidate for Victoria state wrote online in 2016 that taxpayers should not fund Muslim schools because they were "fomenting rebellion against the government."
Creasey, a high school teacher, said in his resignation statement: "I think this is a really important lesson for young people that your social media footprint will follow you."