‘The good guy!’ MP full of praise for himself in social media blunder
Independent federal MP Andrew Gee has blamed an inexperienced staff member for a social media gaffe that had Mr Gee thanking himself as the “good guy” in a comment on Facebook about his opponent’s “dirty tactics”.
The comment, impersonating a disgruntled voter but posted as “Andrew Gee MP”, replied to his own post railing against “blatant lies” he claimed the National Party was using against him to reclaim the regional western NSW electorate.
Mr Gee wrote the original post to “call out every single dirty, grubby tactic in this campaign”.
The comment on the Facebook post has now been deleted. (Supplied)
He pointed to an alleged incident involving a constituent cold-called by someone from the National Party he said told “blatant lies” about who he was preferencing in this election.
In response to his own post, Mr Gee’s account thanked him: “It has helped me see who is the good guy!”.
“Thank you Andrew Gee MP I am new to the area and have received multiple texts from the Nationals and seen nasty ads in the paper from the Teal mob,” the comment read.
It was deleted soon after but the original post remains on Mr Gee’s Facebook page.
A spokesperson for Mr Gee said the comment was posted “without Mr Gee’s knowledge by a new and inexperienced member of the campaign team who had access to the page”.
The statement said the staffer “knows it was an extremely disappointing and unacceptable thing to do … which Mr Gee does not condone, approve of or support under any circumstances.
“The team member has expressed genuine remorse and distress, their duties have now been modified so it won’t happen again, and we’re providing appropriate levels of care and support”.
In response to a question from the ABC about how many Facebook accounts Mr Gee has, the spokesperson said he had one Facebook and one Instagram account and they were the only ones he posted on.
Sam Farraway, the Nationals candidate for Calare, declined to comment.
Mr Gee defected from the National Party in 2022 over its stance on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
He has held the seat of Calare since 2016 and is fighting to retain the seat as an Independent for the first time.
Blast from the past
The blunder is a reminder of a similar incident in 2019 in which the now shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor praised himself on his Facebook account.
In response to a campaign announcement for his electorate of Hume, Mr Taylor replied: “Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus.”
Angus Taylor praised himself during the 2019 federal election campaign. (Supplied: X)
Mr Gee has a history of calling out behaviour targeting him.
He has labelled this 2025 campaign as the “dirtiest and nastiest yet” after police released vision of two men stealing his political posters outside a business in Orange.
Police are investigating incidents of corflute theft across central western townships.
They are also looking into reports of an altercation at another business in Orange after a man began removing posters of Mr Gee.
Independent MP Andrew Gee alleges election material has been stolen from properties in and around Orange. (ABC Central West: Toby Hemmings)
He has also been vocal critic of the Nationals since he left the party.
In November, 2023, he used parliamentary privilege to announce that a package containing empty wine bottles with an “insulting message” was anonymously sent to his home in Orange.
Mr Gee told parliament that CCTV footage indicated it was posted by the then-chair of the NSW National Party’s federal electorate council, who was asked to resign over the incident.
But his political opponents, Sam Farraway and Independent Kate Hook, also claim they have been the victims of corflute theft during this federal campaign.
In January, a Nationals billboard in Orange featuring Mr Farraway in Orange was found graffitied with Nazi symbols.
