Port Hedland councillor Adrian McRae to run for upper house seat, doubles down on conspiracy theories

Port Hedland councillor Adrian McRae, who praised Vladimir Putin’s election victory and quoted a nazi on Russian state television last year, has announced his candidacy for an Upper House seat in the upcoming WA State election this March. However, the controversial councillor will need to gather at least 250 signed WA Election Candidate Declaration Forms in less than a week before the February 12 deadline to secure a place on the ballot. Cr McRae is no stranger to controversy. As a Port Hedland councillor, he made headlines for his failed motion calling for an investigation into so-called “COVID vaccine contamination,” a stance widely dismissed by medical experts. He also ran for Federal office in 2022 as a Great Australian Party candidate for Durack, securing just 3 per cent of the vote. Now, in his bid for State office, Cr McRae has doubled down on his opposition to vaccines, climate change science and what he calls the “woke agenda”. “I had no intention of getting my hands dirty in this year’s upcoming elections,” he said announcing his run on Facebook on February 1. “However, it was becoming increasingly evident that the growing disconnect between all the minor parties and various independent groups was becoming more of a hindrance than a help in getting good people into government.” In an interview posted to X with Courage Is The Cure, Cr McRae took aim at sex education books in Albany schools, which were part of a controversy at the local council late last year, as “twisted gender ideological books” and “pornography”. He claimed the books instructed children as young as six to “stick their hands up each other butts” and depicted gay sex and anal fisting. Cr McRae also railed against new firearms regulations and late-term abortion, while doubling down on COVID-19 and climate change conspiracy theories. “All these issues with energy and wind turbines going up all around the place that are just the most unreliable, expensive form of energy you can imagine,” he said. “I’ve been pushing back on this unreliable and renewable energy stuff for years. I’ve understood the climate hoax and the ridiculousness of carbon dioxide being a pollutant. It is unbelievable that any human has been able to be manipulated into that.” McRae also criticised COVID-19 vaccine mandates, calling them a violation of bodily autonomy while also expressing support for the anti-abortion movement. “Some people (in our group of independents) are very loud and vocal against late-term abortions, which we all kind of agree on,” he said. “Medical freedom is a big one. If you lose medical freedom and bodily autonomy—if you don’t have the right to your own body, what right do you have? If they own your body and they can demand what you do or do not inject into it, that is a really frightening precedent.” Cr McRae also hosted an event in October 2023 for then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr in San Jose, who was recently grilled for casting doubt on the safety of vaccines, including historically renowned successes like the polio vaccine, during his Senate confirmation hearing. The State election is on March 8. Adrian McRae was contacted for comment.