SYDNEY - An Australian lawmaker says he has changed his name to Austin "Aussie" Trump to follow in the footsteps of the US president in "unwinding the leftist nonsense."
The Western Australia state politician, formerly known as Ben Dawkins, shared a photo on social media of the official Jan 29 registry document showing his new name: Austin Letts Trump.
His presidentially inspired name -- "Hon. Aussie Trump" -- now features on the Western Australia parliamentary website.
"Political protest - but Trump is unwinding the leftist nonsense - I'll happily be a small part of that. Ta. Aussie," the 53-year-old posted on social media platform X this week.
Australia's Trump said he wanted to protest against the "tyranny and systematic corruption" of Western Australia's Labor government.
Western Australian Premier Roger Cook said Thursday he was "speechless" and the stunt was "attention-seeking".
In 2023, Dawkins was dumped from the state's centre-left Labor government after a court found he sent relatives "emotionally manipulative" emails in breach of a restraining order.
He briefly joined the anti-immigration One Nation Party in 2024, but left when they did not endorse him on their ticket.
He is running as an independent candidate in Western Australian state elections to be held in March. - AFP