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Labor MP Josh Burns accused new Greens leader David Shoebridge of prejudice after he said his party has strong ties with Jewish Australians fighting a genocide. The dispute follows Shoebridge's election to replace Larissa Waters.
Labor MP Josh Burns has accused new Greens leader David Shoebridge of prejudice against Jewish Australians, saying he placed them into good and bad categories based on their positions on Israel's war in Gaza.
Greens Leader Faces Jewish Community Dispute
The dispute erupted after Shoebridge, elected on Wednesday to replace ailing Senator Larissa Waters, was asked about his relationship with the Jewish community. He said the Greens had really strong connections with much of the Australian Jewish community, working alongside Jewish Australians who are fighting a genocide. Shoebridge added that the party would continue to champion their voices and be solid allies with them.
He urged the media to listen to their cries for justice, saying the party stands with powerful, principled voices advocating humanism and peace. Burns rejected that framing, calling the remarks prejudice and unprogressive. He said the Jewish community should not be put into categories of good and bad based on their views of what is happening in the Middle East.
Instead of saying something unifying and acknowledging that everyone deserves to feel safe and included in the Australian political landscape, Burns said Shoebridge decided to give an answer that said he has relationships with some who agree with him on his perspective of the Middle East. Burns said people should not be judged just based on whether or not they agree with David Shoebridge.
He said the answer would send chills up the spines of many within the Jewish community and would fail to foster a sense of safety and inclusion. Speaking later on News24, Burns acknowledged that Shoebridge had not explicitly said there were good or bad Jewish people. But he said the Greens leader's instinct was to isolate members of the community. He said that is not progressive leadership, that is prejudice.
Office Response and Internal Party Shift
Shoebridge's office pushed back. A spokesperson for the Greens said the interview request came from a News Corp journalist they deemed unfit to publish the question. They also alleged that journalists routinely marginalise the progressive Jewish community's advocacy against genocide. Shoebridge said on Thursday that the rare contested ballot of Greens MPs this week showed the hunger within the party to respond to what he views as overlapping social, economic and environmental crises producing searing anger among voters.
I see that as a real sign of strength in the party and a sign of deep eagerness across the whole team to get in and make this fight real, he said on the ABC. He has described himself as a radical socialist and hails from the NSW hard-left faction associated with Lee Rhiannon. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opened Labor's attacks a day after Shoebridge was elected.
He critiqued Shoebridge's aim to replace Labor instead of focusing on the rise of a far-right wing party. Pointing to the interpretation that the Greens' obstructionist approach was to blame for losses at the last election, Albanese said Shoebridge sounded a lot like some of the people who did not win their seats. Greens strategists do not share that view. Despite the friction, Burns expressed a desire to maintain a constructive relationship with the new Greens leadership.
He cited the appointment of Steph Hodgins-May, a former rival who challenged him twice in federal contests, as a potentially stabilising factor. Hodgins-May's own history with the Greens, including a close finish in the 2022 election, illustrates the often intertwined nature of Labor and Greens politics. The broader dispute revolves around Shoebridge's presentation of the Greens as a counterforce to the government's perceived failures.
He draws stark lines between the Greens, who he portrays as responsive to economic inequality and social justice, and Labor, which he claims has turned into a party of protest rather than one of governance. Albanese has hinted that constructive engagement with the Greens will be essential, while noting concerns over the party's critique of Labor. The controversy has also revived scrutiny of Shoebridge's history.
Controversial Posts Draw renewed Scrutiny
He was the only Australian politician to attend an event at the Chinese embassy in Canberra marking the 80th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II. The embassy was not allowed to hold the event in Parliament House. The ABC reported that Shoebridge posted on Instagram in July about Labor gagging the truth about the Bondi massacre.
The post related to a former ASIO undercover agent known as Marcus, who claimed he warned authorities about the Akrams family years before. ASIO insisted that Marcus, who was refused a visa to appear at the antisemitism royal commission, was unreliable. Many comments on the post claimed explicitly that the Bondi massacre was a hoax, with one user calling it a Mossad false flag event.
Another comment saying Get Israel out of our politics received nearly 1000 likes, while another saying We all know it was a Mossad operation received 245 approvals. Shoebridge's office disabled comments on the post a few weeks ago when this masthead alerted it to the nature of the remarks. This masthead is not suggesting Shoebridge supported the views of the commenters, only that they remained online for many weeks.
The volume of comments underlined Israel's reputational damage since it responded to the October 7 Hamas attacks by entering Gaza and killing at least 70,000 people, including combatants. The UN has labelled it a possible genocide. Albanese's key ally in the Jewish community, Peter Wertheim, singled out Shoebridge in his submission to the royal commission.
Wertheim Alleges Government Funding Misinformation
Wertheim, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said Shoebridge made a false claim about government funding for security upgrades that spurred responses which inflamed antisemitism. The senator did not check the accuracy of this statement, Wertheim wrote, saying the sequence of social media commentary was illustrative of how misinformation and disinformation can play to and stoke antisemitic sentiment. Shoebridge's office did not respond to detailed questions about this story, including whether he endorsed Milner's views.
A party spokesman said the allegations were grossly inaccurate, false and wilfully misleading. The fallout touches on the evolving politics of identity and community alliances in Australia, and whether the Greens' inclusive rhetoric can survive when it intersects with contentious geopolitical stances. The discourse around the Gaza conflict has deepened existing tensions along the wide spectrum of views within the Jewish community, a range that covers reformist voices to those who see Gaza as a front in a broader struggle.
In the weeks that follow, both parties will grapple with how to represent and engage with one of Australia's oldest and most distinguished communities.
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brisbanetimes:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Australian Greens Jewish Community Labor Party David Shoebridge Josh Burns Middle East Policy Greens Leadership Jewish Australians Gaza War
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