READ MORE: Prominent Burnie City Council candidate Jarrod Boys linked to neo-fascist group Proud Boys

On Tuesday, a video from 2018 surfaced of Burnie City Council candidate Jarrod Boys reciting a pledge associated with the Proud Boys. Mr Boys later confirmed he acted as president of the "Tassie Proud Boys", but said he has since dissolved the chapter after "abandoning and denouncing" the organisation.

On Wednesday, Premier Jeremy Rockliff addressed Mr Boys' previous work with the state Liberal Party.

"I am deeply concerned about reports in today's media and want to make it very clear that extreme neo-fascist views are unacceptable and should be condemned. Today I acted on this matter and have asked the party to investigate," he said.

The secretariat of the Tasmanian Liberal Party was contacted multiple times to clarify the nature of Mr Boys' work with the party but did not respond.

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Earlier that day, Labor's Franklin MHA Dean Winter had called for more details about Mr Boys' involvement with the state Liberal Party.

"The beliefs and actions of the Proud Boys around the world have no place in Tasmanian politics at any level and Mr Rockliff has to act."

On his part, Mr Boys denies his continuing involvement with the "Tassie Proud Boys" and says he has always been strongly opposed to ideologies or beliefs relating to fascism or the like, but has suggested he was active in the group as recently as March last year, when he appeared to be actively recruiting for the organisation as its president.

In an online post on his political page addressing his connection to the group, Mr Boys claimed since dissolving the chapter he had been working to prevent others "going down the dark path of following online political movements from the divisive American political scene".

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Mr Boys' political page remains active and he has given no indication that he intends to bow out of the local government elections, which will be held in October.

Mr Boys has also received support from fellow local government candidate Dillon Roberts, who is believed to be making a concurrent election run for the position of Waratah-Wynyard mayor. The pair have been pictured several times promoting their community work throughout the North-West over the past few months.

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"I myself am proud of my association with Mr Boys and will continue to work with him, to make our region a better place. No further public comments will be made at this time,'' Mr Roberts said in an online post.

Burnie mayor Steve Kons was contacted regarding Mr Boys' run for the council seat but declined to comment.

It should be noted, there is no suggestion Mr Roberts, the Burnie City Council, the mayor or the Tasmanian Liberal Party are associated with the Proud Boys movement.

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