Labor moves to punish Greens over Gaza stance – and it could play into Liberal hands
Asked about the prospect of Labor running an open ticket in Macnamara, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday: “I don’t engage in preference negotiations, as you’re aware. But I say this about McNamara: Josh Burns is a fantastic local MP. The Greens political party have lost their way.”
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Former Labor state minister Philip Dalidakis, who is Jewish, said Burns needed to be able to tell frustrated Jewish voters that despite the government’s criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 60,000 people, Labor stood against the Greens.
Dalidakis described the Greens as “a radicalised, extreme fringe party creating division at home instead of sowing the seeds of harmony. They don’t deserve people’s vote, trust or preferences”.
Highlighting the risk of Greens pushback, a spokesman for Bandt told this masthead: “It would be astounding if Labor helped a Liberal get elected and brought Peter Dutton and his Trump-style politics closer to government.”
Albanese and Dutton both claim the Greens have exploited the conflict in Gaza and fanned the flames of anti-Jewish sentiment to win votes.
A NSW Greens MP apologised for antisemitic remarks about the “tentacles” of the Jewish lobby and a senior federal Greens staffer was reprimanded late last year for suggesting the Adass synagogue was a false flag perpetrated by Jews.
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Bandt has repeatedly rejected these charges and said his party’s stance reflected its history as an anti-war outfit in its campaign against the Israeli government, which has been accused of potential war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
Zionist Federation president Jeremy Leibler said: “The Greens have cynically exploited community tensions without regard for the social consequences, fuelling antisemitic conspiracy theories and rhetoric. And in Macnamara, political parties must do everything they can to ensure the Greens don’t win this seat.”
Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council’s Colin Rubenstein called on Labor not to preference the Greens: “The ALP has called the Greens out on this extremism, and the Greens can only win the seat with ALP preferences, so it is really incumbent on the ALP to be principled”.
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