EXCLUSIVE: NT Labor Police Minister Brent Potter shared misogynistic, homophobic and extreme-right political posts on social media, in addition to racist and anti-Semitic material, including one post containing a derogatory slur against gay people, another that promoted “toxic masculinity” and multiple posts from conservative media websites as late as 2019, in which he mocked Federal Labor.

The latest batch of posts, obtained by the NT Independent, also include comments suggesting women should not serve in the military, a post referring to women as “hoes”, right-wing reflections on Don Dale youth prison detainees and asylum seekers, and multiple posts criticising Labor policies and politicians.

A political science professor said yesterday that posts such as Mr Potter’s should have been “red flags” for Territory Labor while vetting him as a candidate back in July 2022, however party secretary Karlee Dalton refused to say on Wednesday when the party first became aware of all of Mr Potter’s social media material.

Mr Potter, 36, came under fire yesterday for sharing racist and anti-Semitic posts over a span of six years between 2013 and 2019, which he defended as “satirical humour”, shared for his veteran mates’ amusement and also not reflecting his current beliefs, because they were posted while in his 20s and a serving member of the Australian Defence Force.

However, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said Mr Potter’s posts – one of which called for Orthodox Jews to be arrested for practicing their religion and another quoting a Nazi general – were “an extremely powerful way to vilify people” through social media, suggesting he “educate himself”.

Mr Potter declined to answer questions yesterday about the latest batch of social media posts, including why he would share posts heavily critical of the Labor Party and whether he in fact believed in Labor policies and values.

The previously deleted social media posts were revealed shortly after Chief Minister Eva Lawler this week said she was concerned about the influence of “right wing” posts promoting racism in the Territory and calling those who engage in it “cowards”.

Ms Lawler also repeatedly refused to say yesterday when she first became aware of Mr Potter’s social media activities and said in a statement that while “there is no room for racism in the Territory”, the racist posts “do not reflect the Brent Potter of today”.

In January 2019, when Mr Potter was nearly 31-years-old and the year before he commenced employment as a Labor ministerial adviser, he shared a post which stated: “Toxic Masculinity … because when the shit hits the fan, no one hides behind a feminist”. The post featured a man in military gear, holding an assault weapon and appearing to escort a woman out of harm’s way.

A post from Potter’s now deleted Facebook page.

He declined to explain that post yesterday.

In a confusing post from 2013, Mr Potter, then 25 and serving in the ADF, shared a “gym memes” post, that depicted two forklifts, with the larger one asking the small one, “Do you even lift”? The small forklift responds, “Dad, I’m only 6”. The larger forklift then says, “I lift 50’s faggot”.

Mr Potter also declined to explain the nature of that post, if he felt it was “satirical”, or why he felt comfortable sharing a post that contained a derogatory slur against homosexuals.

In another post from 2014, Mr Potter shared a meme from a page called “BroScience” that said: “For all those girls that say, ‘all guys are the same’: Who told you to try them all? Hoe.”

Two years later in 2016, while still reportedly serving in the ADF, Mr Potter shared a link to a CNN story about women serving in the US military.

In a comment on Mr Potter’s page, NT Police officer Andrew Barram – who was discredited as a use-of-force expert at the Zach Rolfe murder trial in 2022 – wrote that there was “an obvious difference between being able to do the job and being able to do the job well/efficiently/effectively”.

“Being able to complete a task, but taking twice as long as the soldier next to you to complete that task spells death in a combat environment,” he wrote.

Mr Potter liked the post with a thumbs-up. He refused to say yesterday if he felt the sentiment was misogynistic and if he personally felt women should not serve in the Australian Defence Force.

He also declined to respond to a question about whether he accepts the posts appear to convey a disdain for women.

All of the posts were deleted when his social media accounts were deactivated the day he was preselected by Labor for the 2022 Fannie Bay by-election.

Political posts show Police Minister harboured anti-Labor sentiment, mocked Federal Labor and Dan Andrews

Mr Potter’s Facebook page was riddled with anti-Labor material between 2013 and 2019, including shared posts from Sky News commentators, other media organisations and extreme-right political pages such as “Rowdy Conservatives” and the “Australian Tea Party” attacking Labor policies and politicians.

In March 2018, when Mr Potter was 30-years-old, he appeared to take great delight in a Sky News story about a man yelling at then-Victorian premier Dan Andrews from the street about misspending taxpayer money, sharing a link to the clip and writing, “Hahaha priceless”.

Mr Andrews is revered in Territory Labor, with former chief minister Michael Gunner once hiring his chief of staff to conduct a review of how the NT Labor government’s fifth floor office was performing, resulting in senior members being moved on.

In July 2014, Mr Potter shared a link to an Andrew Bolt column titled “Fearmongers’ hateful fraud” which purported to expose fraud issues related to Sri Lankan refugees.

Mr Potter wrote: “Dear left wing friends of mine, enjoy the read”.

That article later resulted in a successful defamation lawsuit against News Corp.

At one point in 2016, Mr Potter inexplicably shared a picture of former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott dressed in fire-fighting gear originally posted by Paul Murray, who praised Abbott for getting things done while other Canberra politicians “play petty games”.

Mr Potter also shared multiple posts between 2013 and 2019, criticising former Labor leader Bill Shorten, including one that claimed he had “no policies” ahead of the 2016 federal election and that he had overseen disastrous Labor economic policies.

There were also multiple instances of Mr Potter promoting Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, a former ADF member, but no social media love for Labor’s own “commando”, Solomon MP Luke Gosling.

In July 2016, amid calls for a royal commission into the abuse of detainees at Don Dale, Mr Potter shared a link to Sky News’ “Bolt Report” that stated, “To present this as the torture of an essentially harmless boy is unfair and untrue”.

“Just going to leave this here,” he wrote.

At the time, Territory Labor was attacking the then-CLP Giles government over their handling of the issue, which sparked a royal commission into youth detention in the NT.

Mr Potter refused to say yesterday if he truly believed in Labor policies and values before being elected as a Labor member at the 2022 Fannie Bay by-election.

His office said he would hold a press conference Thursday morning to “answer all questions”.