Australian MP legally changes his name to Aussie Trump and vows to 'call out woke leftist nonsense'
An Australian MP has legally changed his name to Aussie Trump in protest against the country's ruling centre-left government.
The independent lawmaker from Western Australia, formerly known as Ben Dawkins, is now known as 'Aussie Trump' on the state's website.
He took to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday to make the announcement.
'I've launched a political protest against the tyranny and systematic corruption of the Labor government in WA,' he wrote on the platform before signing off as 'Aussie'.
In order to offer further proof of his name changed, Mr Trump shared photographic evidence of the name change which showed his new name to be 'Austin Letts Trump'.
He has also changed his username to 'Hon. Aussie Trump MLC' on his X account.
Further posts on the social media site have made it clear that Mr Trump is hoping to imitate the American President after he wrote 'Vote Labor out and drill baby drill' in a apparent reference to the American Trump's plan to extract more gas and oil.
In explain his decision to change his name, Mr Trump told Australian media he wanted to be like Trump and call out 'woke leftist nonsense'.
The independent lawmaker from Western Australia , formerly known as Ben Dawkins, is now known as 'Aussie Trump' (pictured) on the state's website
Further posts on the social media site have made it clear that Mr Trump is hoping to imitate the American President after he wrote 'Vote Labor out and drill baby drill' in a apparent reference to the American Trump's plan to extract more gas and oil
He took to X, formerly Twitter on Wednesday to make the announcement
He added that he would 'love' if the American president called his office.
Mr Trump's name change has been ridiculed by Western Australia's Labor government.
Speaking at a news conference, the state's premier said: 'This is simply attention-seeking stuff,' Sky News reported.
'I'm not sure how much lower he can go,' he added.
Mr Trump was initially elected as a Labor member of the WA parliament in March 2023 after another member resigned from the parliament.
However, a month later he was expelled from the party for pleading guilty to breaching a family violence restraining order and in June 2023 he was fined $2,000 and handed a 10-month community-based order.
He has since sat in the parliament as an independent MP where he has criticised the government's Covid vaccination mandates.
Mr Trump was initially elected as a Labor member of the WA parliament in March 2023 after another member resigned from the parliament
Mr Trump then had something of a damascene conversion when he joined the right-wing Pauline Hanson's One Nation - a right-wing populist and Australian nationalist party led by Australian senator Pauline Hanson - in 2024.
However by the end of last year he had left the party and once again sat as an independent.
Labor faces a state vote in resource-rich Western Australia next month, before the country goes to the polls in a nationwide election that must be held by May.
Currently, Labor - which has governed the state since 2017 - are enjoying a healthy 10 point lead in the polls.
