Australian far-right candidate quits after photo emerges of him saluting swastika carved into his lawn

A candidate for an Australian far right party has withdrawn from the race after a photo emerged of him performing a Nazi salute above a swastika cut into his lawn and revelations that he had threatened a former employee.

Mark Ellis, who was standing for the anti-immigrant One Nation party in the Queensland state election, said he had been forced to quit because of threats to his family and “pathetic haters”.

His resignation came after it emerged that he had sent a series of threatening Facebook messages to Mihalis Kalaitzidis, a 25-year-old student who worked for his company, Gatecrash Security.

After a misunderstanding about a shift, he reportedly wrote: “I’m gonna kill you,” Mr Ellis allegedly wrote. “I’m gonna f*** you up c****. I know where you live”.

Mr Kalaitzidis also told The Guardian that he was sent a threatening voice message.

He said he ignored the threats until he discovered Mr Ellis was standing for public office.

At the same time a photo posted onto his Facebook site, showed that he had mowed a swastika into his lawn, before performing a Nazi salute above it.

Mr Ellis is one of a number of One Nation candidates that have been sacked or forced to withdraw from the race.

In January, Shan Ju Lin was forced out after she made a number of Facebook updates stating that "gays should be treated as patients" and "abnormal sex behaviour leads to abnormal crime".

Another candidate, Andy Semple, was also forced to withdraw for similar social media comments.

Mr Ellis had previously made headlines when it emerged that he was one of the ‘Pinkenba Six’ – a group of police officers who were charged with kidnap in 1994.

The group had taken three indigenous youths from a Brisbane suburb and driven them to bush land seven miles away.

The boy’s shoes were taken and one officer allegedly threatened to cut off their fingers. The case caused an outcry within the indigenous community but the officers escaped punishment after a judge ruled the boys went voluntarily.