Premier Roger Cook urges Port Hedland councillor Adrian McRae to resign after Russian news appearance

Premier Roger Cook has urged controversial Town of Port Hedland councillor Adrian McRae to resign after appearing on Russian State media to decry Australian “mainstream media”. Cr McRae appeared on Russian State-owned news agency Sputnik on October 20, attacking Western mainstream media reporting on the recent Russian election. Responding to the news at a press conference in Perth on October 23, the Premier labelled Cr McRae an “embarrassment” and accused him of using his council position to advance his “right-wing ideological position”. “He has an obligation to conduct himself in a manner which is consistent with the needs and requirements of his job, which is to focus on the people of Port Hedland, not engage in some sort of whacky ideological debate about freedom of speech in Russia,” he said. “Quite frankly I think everyone in Port Hedland would be embarrassed by his antics and I think it’s time he resigns. “It’s time for the councillor to go. He’s an embarrassment to the Town of Port Hedland, he’s an embarrassment to WA.” Mr Cook also said the State Government needed to investigate if Cr McRae had breached any rules in relation to his role as a councillor. In response to Mr Cook, Cr McRae said he was “proud” to embarrass the Premier before accusing him of being part of a COVID vaccine conspiracy. “What you and your Government did to the people of WA these last five years will never be forgiven, nor forgotten. The blood of West Australians that stains your hands may never be cleansed,” he said. “Force-injecting your people with dangerously contaminated genetic technology is the most disgusting and disgraceful act any Australian Government has done in our lifetimes. “It is you, dear sir, who needs to resign.” During the Sputnik interview, Cr McRae also quoted prominent nazi political theorist Carl Schmitt. “I think it was the German philosopher Carl Schmitt that said: ‘You have to have an enemy figure to create a cohesive society’. And of course, the enemy figure at the moment in the Australian media in the Australian narrative is Russia,” he said. Both Sputnik and Cr McRae failed to identify Carl Schmitt as a member of the Nazi Party. It marks the second time Cr McRae has appeared on Russian State media while in Russia this year, the first being in April as a scrutineer for the Russian election. Cr McRae later publicly congratulated President Vladimir Putin “on his transparent and his comprehensive win” on Russian State television. It comes after the Premier and Cr McRae exchanged words in mid-October after the Port Hedland council voted to call for the immediate suspension of Moderna and Pfizer COVID vaccines in a motion authored by Cr McRae. Mr Cook said the motion was another example of the troubled North West council’s incompetence and it should stick to its own remit. “This is another example of that particular council going completely off the rails,” Mr Cook said. “The Town of Port Hedland should stick to its knitting. It should stay focused on the services to the people in that community. It should lift its game.” Port Hedland mayor Peter Carter said Cr McRae did not speak for the council. “I want to be clear — any public comments made by one of these members reflect their personal views, not the whole council’s,” he said. “They are speaking for themselves, not for everyone at the table. “I encourage all councillors to stay focused on the key priorities our community keeps raising, like affordable housing, childcare and community safety, so we can keep making Hedland a great place to live.”