In case putative politicians hadn’t worked it out from the examples of Andrew Quah last year and the Victorian Liberal bloggers this year, your online habits can come back to bite you.

Lyn Vickery was the WA Liberal candidate for the new seat of Morley in the State election due between now and May next year, until an alert Googler pointed out an interesting site run by Vickery. The “Global Action” movement featured on the site advanced policies such as an end to all immigration, because “Australia will no longer be a free meal ticket for those who come here seeking to bleed us dry and use us up”, and action against gay and lesbian propagandising because what they do is “filthy, unhealthy, degrading and unfruitful”. The Liberal Party began an investigation, and the West Australian’s Neale Prior (not online) ran an item on Mr Vickery’s website and some of Global Action’s more extreme views.

Vickery had since dumped the Global Action stuff, but didn’t figure on the good graces of Google Caché, which has resurrected many an inconvenient online moment for later embarrassment. Google Caché allows us to enjoy Lyn’s views on immigration, g-ys and lesbians and indigenous issues, including Global Action’s welcome support for the rise of Aboriginal entertainers and comedians. Because they have so much to laugh about.

In his defence at his now heavily-modified, and definitely not “defunked” site, Vickery produced an argument that many a blogger will recognise immediately: the views he expressed were all a trick to flush out nutcases. Says Vickery:

It was at it’s core a research and marketing survey web site and at no time was it ever a bona fide or registered political party, nor was it intended as such. BUT IT WAS SO GOOD IT EVEN SUCKED IN AND EXPOSED PRIOR, HIS DUMBO CYBER-SLEUTHS

AND A WHOLE NET FULL OF OTHER LEFT AND RIGHT WING LOONIES! THEY ALL ACTUALLY BELIEVED THEY WERE ON TO A REAL POLITICAL WEB SITE … SUCH IS THEIR PARANOIA!!!

In short, Vickery pwned us all! A brilliant honeytrap to lure out political opponents and extremists, and gauge the views of ordinary Australians at the same time.

Unfortunately for Vickery, it even sucked in the WA Liberal Party. At a meeting late last month, Vickery was disendorsed as the Liberal candidate for Morley. Next time you do a “research and marketing survey web site”, Lyn, maybe you shouldn’t make it so real huh?