Family values party dumps candidate for porn pics

By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA (Reuters) - A family values campaigner accused of taking pornographic photographs of himself has been dumped as a candidate for Australia's November election by the Christian-values Family First Party.

Sydney music teacher Andrew Quah, 21, admitted photographs showing his penis and circulating widely on gay websites had embarrassed his party and made his candidacy untenable.

"But that's not my penis," Quah told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, adding one of the images may have been digitally altered.

"I might have been drunk off my face, or my political enemies might have drugged me," Quah said. "It was a mistake that I would not have committed had I been of right mind. All I know, I have been humiliated."

Family First leader and upper house Senator Steve Fielding spoke to Quah at the weekend and dumped him as the party's candidate for a western Sydney seat because his actions contradicted the party's strong family values platform.

"Andrew has admitted to the party that two of the photos were of himself, but he denied that a third photo was of himself," party spokeswoman Felicity de Fombelle told Reuters.

"He denied uploading the photos, but he also admitted that he personally used pornography, so his views are at odds with the values of the party," she said.

Quah, nicknamed "Australia's Smallest Loser" in a parody of a popular television series after the photos came to light, had been a member of Family First for 11 months, de Fombelle said.