
Costo in hot water over ‘racist’ Chinese post
CONTROVERSIAL Whitsunday MP Jason Costigan has been accused of racism after sharing a post about Chinese LNP candidate for Stretton Peter Zhuang.
Mr Costigan shared a message from Moreton Young LNP to his personal and official Facebook pages last night opposing advertisements Mr Zhuang placed in Chinese newspapers asking for support ahead of this Saturday's state election.
The group's Facebook page has since been deleted.
In sharing the post to his followers, Mr Costigan wrote, "Anyone for Chinese? If so, vote for the LNP".
The comments sparked a heated debate over whether the words used were offensive or even racist.
Facebook user Dennis Charters commented that the NQ First leader had invoked "racist comments".
"Jason you must be clutching at straws," he said.
Fellow Facebook user Peter Hood said the comments crossed "the boundaries of acceptable behaviour".
"Racism is never acceptable and I'm now assured that the Italian, Chinese, Greek, 1st Australian and other ethnic North Queensland (First) supporters in Mackay are not happy," he said.

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Mr Costigan stood by his comments, saying "anyone who thought it was offensive is most likely sympathetic to the pro-Chinese Liberals".
"As the son of an immigrant, who helped build the nation, from the Snowy Mountains to the Bowen Basin, I'm very proud of who I am, where I have come from and the special role that immigrants have played in the development of our country," he said in a statement.
" … It's my job to make people aware of stuff, especially with a dumbed down media - very different to my days in the profession.
" … I am still standing as the Member for Whitsunday on the back of my commitment to stand up for our region and go after the major parties because in the words of my recycled LNP opponent, yes, we deserve better."
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This is not the first time one of Mr Costigan's social media posts has landed him in hot water.
In 2018, then-Deputy Premier Jackie Trad branded Mr Costigan a "sleazebag" after he posted a video on Facebook with two bikini-clad young tourists as he "celebrated" World Bikini Day.