Australia election marred by daubing
AUSTRALIA GOES to the polls on Saturday with six Jewish politicians seeking reelection and a seventh contesting a seat held by a retiring Jew.
But their campaigns have been marred by antisemitic daubing on posters and hate emails, which are being investigated by police.
Both Labor and their centre-right rivals, the Liberal-National Party alliance known as the Coalition, have pledged AU$55 million (£30 million) towards protecting religious schools and places of worship where there are security risks to children. Labor has vowed to “work with Jewish schools and community organisations to ensure their security needs are met.”
But the parties differ on policies towards Israel and the Middle East.
Labor has vowed to reverse the Coalition government’s recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to consider recognising Palestinian statehood, although its insists it opposes the Israel boycott movement BDS.
The Coalition’s position, meanwhile, is that “aspirations for Palestinian statehood can only be realised
through direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel”. It has denounced BDS as antisemitic.
A survey of the main Australian political parties published by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry found that they all support the basic principle of religious freedom and have no plans to propose changes to laws on brit milah.
But the Greens’ platform includes support for “stunning of animals before slaughter” — a practice that is incompatible with kosher slaughter.
Antisemitism has been a feature of this year’s campaign: Josh Frydenberg, a Jewish Liberal standing in Kooyong, Melbourne, has seen his election posters daubed with Hitler-style moustaches, swastikas and dollar signs. Mr Frydenberg has been Treasurer in the national government — a role comparable to Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer — since last August.
Campaign photographs of Julian Leeser, who has held the Liberal seat of Berowra, north of Sydney, since 2016, have been daubed in similar fashion.
Other Jewish candidates running for office include a senator, Stirling Graff, who was first elected for the state of South Australia in 2016.
In the House of Representatives, Labor’s Mike Freelander has represented Macarthur on the outskirts of Sydney for three years, while Mark Dreyfus was Attorney-General in the 2013 Labor government.
Labor MP Michael Danby, one of Australia’s strongest supporters of Israel, is due to step down and Josh Burns is contesting the Melbourne seat of Macnamara for the party in the hope of replacing him — but he is expected to face a strong challenge from the Greens.
One of the tightest races will be in Wentworth, where the majority of Sydney’s Jewish community is based. The traditionally Liberal stronghold was won by an independent candidate, Kerryn Phelps, in a fraught by-election.
That contest deprived Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of his majority and the party’s candidate, Dave Sharma, is standing for the seat again.
Mr Sharma, who is not Jewish, was Australia’s ambassador to Israel between 2013 and 2017 and is appealing to Jewish voters to help him overturn the narrow defeat last year. Bookmakers are showing very short odds for a Labor victory and for Sharma to regain Wentworth.