‘Bro was a Trojan horse’: Far-right politician drops act immediately after being voted in, claims he loves immigrants and has a Muslim boyfriend

An Australian MP who ran for the far-right One Nation party has caused quite the stir after turning against his own party’s policies and embracing immigration and homosexuality. Jason Virgo delivered an emotional maiden speech in which he claimed to “love immigrants” while also proudly stating that he has a Muslim boyfriend.

The One Nation party has been widely associated with an anti-immigration and anti-LGBTQ+ stance and yet Virgo’s speech seems to distance himself from all of that. “I have been openly gay throughout my entire adult life,” the MP told the house during his speech. 

Virgo then went on to give a touching tribute to his immigrant boyfriend Rhisang Alfarid whom he called the “love of my life.” He thanked his partner for their support and explained that “Rhisang was born in Indonesia. A Muslim, and is now a proud Australian.” Virgo also spoke of his love for immigrants telling the house “Our closest friendship circle is made up largely of immigrants, from China, India and the Philippines.”

“I love migrants.” He continued, “The overwhelming majority are simply searching for a better life.” However, he did admit that he believes migration levels in recent years have been too high. Regardless, we rarely see right-wing people see the light until it’s too late and it got many people excited.

The response to Jason Virgo’s speech online

Many were taken aback by the MP’s unflinching honesty. X user, Adam, called Jason Virgo “a Trojan horse” referring to the fact that he seemingly ran as MP for the One Nation party under the pretense of being right wing, only admitting his true view once he’d been elected. “[H]e hit the whole country with the ol razzle dazzle that’s actually hilarious” added another on X. Others questioned if this would amount to fraud on Virgo’s part.

However, while Virgo’s speech was seen as a blow to the Australian right wing party, it’s clear that the MP isn’t quite as left leaning as it would seem. “He seems to still be against actual immigration, and “immigrants I know personally are fine, everyone else is bad” is a pretty common right wing position.” pointed out one person. There’s also nothing to say a person can’t be part of the LGBTQ+ community and still be right wing.

A former One Nation candidate claimed that Virgo’s success made it harder to label the members of the party “as some cartoon racist or homophobe.” However, detractors of One Nation claimed that this proved that the party “is a hodgepodge of opportunists with no real cohesion other than the desire for power,” as per news.com.au.

Others pointed out that Virgo’s views were more centrist if anything. Regardless, it’s not exactly the Trojan horse situation it’s being made out to be. One viewer explained it best when they claimed that Virgo didn’t switch sides, “he just revealed the full version of the character after launch.”