It was the second candidate for the upcoming state election that the Napthine government has withdrawn in less than a week. Jack Lyons (right) with Premier Denis Napthine. The Facebook posts from Mr Lyons included him saying Bendigo was “needing an enema” and labelling its Golden Dragon Museum “ching chong gardens”. On one post he laughed at African poverty, asking why people lived in mud huts and had to walk “5 miles everyday for water ... why not build the f---ing huts closer to the f---ing water”. Jack Lyons

He also posted that a good pick-up line was “Hey, does this rag smell like chloroform to you?” Premier Denis Napthine said Mr Lyons' comments were unacceptable. Dr Napthine said the Liberal Party had taken strong action against Mr Lyons, who stood down on Monday night, and attempted to turn the blowtorch back on to the Labor Party. "The actions taken by Mr Lyons and the Liberal Party are strong and decisive actions, which are in sharp contrast to the Labor Party's lack of action on dealing with its people involved in the tape-gate affair,'' Dr Napthine said on Tuesday morning. Mr Lyons resignation follows the withdrawal of Liberal Aaron Lane over offensive posts on Twitter. Labor's Helen Constas has withdrawn over bullying claims.

Social media, Dr Napthine said, was a minefield for everyone including politicians. Deputy opposition leader James Merlino said Mr Lyons' comments were 'offensive', 'unacceptable' and 'disgusting'. "We have now had two Liberal party candidates removed within a week for racist, sexist and homophobic comments." He called on Dr Napthine to apologise to Bendigo voters for preselecting Mr Lyons. A spokesman for the Liberal Party said candidates would attend a meeting tomorrow where they would discuss social media use as well as a range of other issues. He said the meeting had been previously organised and was not in response to Mr Lyons' comments.

With Henrietta Cook and Darren Gray

