Only days into their state election campaign, an embarrassed ALP in Queensland has hurriedly distanced itself from a young candidate who in recent years made racist and homophobic remarks on the net.

The screenshot above shows Peter Watson on the Queensland Labor website last week, running for the party in the rural seat of Southern Downs. The 19-year-old’s image and profile has now been yanked from the site.

Homophobic comments linked to Watson appeared as comments on political blogs, including this one from two years ago – “Yes, I am homophobic. Homosexuals disgust me with their decadent attitudes to life and their life styles. They are really bad for our society and they need to be dealt with by the powers to be. The homosexuals are the true social degenerates. It is a proven fact that most paedophiles are homosexual.” More here.

He also expressed bigoted racist views among his online rants, suggesting he had philosophical links to white extremist groups.

As his online comments came to light in recent days, Watson was quickly dropped as an ALP candidate, with Queensland Premier Anna Bligh claiming he was an “enemy” who had tried to infiltrate and embarrass the party.

Interviewed on ABC radio yesterday, Watson wasn’t backing down off his anti-gay beliefs, reiterating that gays are ‘degenerates’. “At branch meetings I did put forward a resolution that would condemn gay marriage, and of course those proposals failed,” he added. “Basically it would undermine families, it would undermine society.”

He seems to distance himself slightly from his controversial white supremacist beliefs though. “We’re talking about four or five years ago,” he claimed of his comments. “I do agree with some of the things I said, but like everyone else, some of my views change over time.”