Port Hedland councillor Adrian McRae quotes nazi on Russian state news

Port Hedland councillor Adrian McRae has quoted a prominent nazi political theorist while appearing on Russian television to attack “mainstream media” reporting.

Appearing on Sputnik News on October 20, Cr McRae quoted Carl Schmitt while attacking mainstream media reporting on the recent Russian election.

“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.

Earlier this year, Cr McRae travelled to Russia to observe the election.

After, he publicly congratulated President Vladimir Putin “on his transparent and his comprehensive win” on Russian state television.

It contradicts both US and Australian officials who have said the election was neither “free” or “fair”.

Doubling down, Cr McRae said he oversaw a “very transparent and very comprehensive electoral victory by Mr Putin”.

“When I reported back honestly and truthfully on what I saw here and in Russia, it went very much against the mainstream media narrative in Australia,” he said.

“To this day they (mainstream media) use a smear of a ‘pro-Putin councillor’ merely for reporting the facts.”

During the interview Cr McRae also applauded Russian state-owned media organisations for “giving an alternate voice”.

“Sputnik and particularly some of these Russian channels are giving an alternate voice, particularly to the people of Palestine and in particular Gaza, that we just don’t get to hear in the mainstream narrative in the West,” he said.

Sputnik was banned in the European Union after the invasion of Ukraine.

In 2019, Facebook took down numerous pages that appeared to be independent news outlets but were actually operated by staff associated with Sputnik.

According to reporting from Sputnik, Cr McRae spoke to the news agency while on a trip to Moscow with Julian Assange’s father, John Shipton, for the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Journalists’ Association international summit.

During the trip Mr Shipton thanked President Putin for “defending” his son and praised controversial populist, pro-Russian and right-wing European leader, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Cr McRae also took aim at the Australian Government and claimed the Commonwealth had made “new laws to make anyone that talks against the Government narrative as a disinformation or misinformation agent.”

“We’re seeing more and more suppression of the media, more and more suppression of the dissident voices,” he said.

It comes after WA Premier Roger Cook said Port Hedland council had gone “off the rails” after passing a motion tabled by Cr McRae concerning contamination of COVID vaccines, which world health authorities debunked.

“This is another example of that particular council going completely off the rails,” Mr Cook said.

“Two, 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.

“We know that there are councillors on that council that are travelling overseas at the invitation of Vladimir Putin to monitor elections in Russia,” the Premier said.

“This is another example of that council lacking the focus on the issues which matter to their constituents — making sure that they provide great services to the people of Port Hedland, making sure that they look after the people and not get distracted by these silly ideological debates.”