An Australian politician has legally changed his name to Austin Trump in a move inspired by US president Donald Trump.
Ben Dawkins, an independent MP in Western Australia’s upper house of parliament where Labor holds a majority, said the move was a protest against the country’s ruling centre-left Labor party.
He is now listed as ‘Aussie Trump’ on the WA parliamentary website and has also changed his username to “Hon. Aussie Trump MLC” on his X account.
In a post on social media he said: “I’ve launched a political protest against the tyranny and systematic corruption of the Labor government in WA.”
In a second post he said: “Vote Labor Out! & Drill Baby Drill!”
He followed this up with an interview with 9News in which he said: “I want to be like Trump in the sense of calling out woke leftist nonsense.
“I would love you to reach out Donald, just ring the office here.”
Hope you are all well – nothing to report here other than that I've launched a political protest against the tyranny and systematic corruption of the Labor government in WA. Having a few days off but can discuss later, Aussie. https://t.co/0KQzFE7iHb
— Hon. Aussie Trump MLC (@benjidawkins) February 5, 2025
Trump is yet to respond to the MP’s gesture.
However, Western Australia’s Premier Roger Cook, the state’s Labor leader, at a news conference on Thursday said: “This is simply attention-seeking stuff. I’m not sure how much lower he can go.”
Western Australia state elections are due to take place in March, before the country goes to the polls in a nationwide vote that must be held before 17 May.
