A Greens senator has annoyed even his own supporters by posting an image with the word ‘Christmas’ scrubbed off a banner.
Nick McKim, his media adviser Patrick Caruana and fellow Tasmanian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson stood in front of a modified ‘Merry Christmas’ sign, with the word ‘Christmas’ crossed out and replaced with, ‘Non-denominational seasonal festivity’.
The Greens’ attempt at trolling conservative Liberal Party politicians on Facebook appears to have annoyed even their own supporters, with one supporter of the far-left party expressing his annoyance.
Senator Nick McKim (pictured left), his media adviser Patrick Caruana and fellow Tasmanian senator Peter Whish-Wilson
Even a self-described Greens voter had enough of the Greens’ attempt to troll conservatives
‘I’m a Green voter, an atheist and totally against all this ‘religious freedom’ bulls*** but can we stop with this PC crap?,’ he said.
Senator McKim, a Hobart-based federal politician who had initially sought to annoy conservative Liberal senator Eric Abetz, copped a serve from Treasurer Scott Morrison.
‘What a bunch of pathetic muppets,’ the senior Liberal wrote on Facebook.
‘The Greens are actually opposed to Christmas. For many millions of Australians Christmas is a very spiritual time of year and central to their religious faith.
‘For members of parliament to treat this important religious occasion with such disrespect is as offensive as it is disappointing.’
Treasurer Scott Morrison said the Greens had disrespected Christmas as a religious occasion
One critic of the Greens’ mocking of Christmas was at least glad they are still a minority
Several other people also expressed their annoyance on Senator McKim’s Facebook page.
‘Attention seeking clowns,’ one man wrote. ‘Greens have nothing to add.’
He added he was glad the Greens, who have 10 per cent support in the latest Newspoll, were a minority.
In April, Senator McKim trolled conservatives by tweeting about giving ‘halal-certified holiday eggs’ to his staff but he left out the word Easter to promote products suitable for Muslims.
He pushed a politically-correct message about the upcoming Easter holidays, leaving out Christian phrases including ‘cross’.
He had taken aim at One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s call for Australians to boycott halal-certified Cadbury eggs.
Greens senator Nick McKim pictured here with ‘holiday eggs’ and ‘seasonal fruit buns’
The left-wing senator told his Twitter followers he had served his staff halal-friendly treats
Greens senator Nick McKim has accused Pauline Hanson of jeopardising jobs in Tasmania
‘Treating staff to halal-certified holiday eggs and warmed non-denominational cinnamon, flavoured, geometrically decorated seasonal fruit buns,’ Senator McKim told his followers.
The Tasmanian senator’s spokesman Patrick Caruana confirmed in April was a joke about political correctness but he declined to say which brand the chocolates were.
Halal certification means products are permissible for Muslims to eat under Islamic religious rules.
For Easter eggs to be considered halal they must avoid using blood, pork and alcohol.
With Muslims making up about 2.4 per cent of the Australian population, Senator Hanson said ‘ordinary Australians shouldn’t be paying a tax on food permissible to Muslims’.