By David Crowe
Anti-Israel protesters have cost taxpayers at least $118,000 by vandalising federal offices over the war in the Middle East, with a single Jewish MP suffering an overwhelming share of the damage.
Labor MP Josh Burns, whose grandmother fled Nazi Germany, was targeted by attacks that cost at least $89,300. Vandals lit fires, smashed windows and spray-painted his inner Melbourne office in June in an attempt to pressure the government into hardening its stance on Israel.
Labor MP Peter Khalil’s inner Melbourne office was vandalised in October, adding to the damage bill.
Federal officials disclosed the costs in a document that revealed the list of MPs who have been targeted, amid signs the damage is continuing despite public condemnation from leaders on all sides.
In the latest attack, Labor MP Peter Khalil was targeted by protesters who daubed his electorate office in Melbourne with an inverted red triangle linked to Hamas.
They also poured an unknown liquid through a hole they had drilled in a door in the early hours of Monday morning, leading Khalil to report a biohazard from the stench.
The latest attacks are not included in the federal tally released under freedom of information laws, triggered by a request lodged by Liberal MP James Stevens, because the cost estimate from the Department of Finance only runs to June 30. An unknown MP also objected to the damage bill to their office being released, preventing its inclusion.
Burns said the cost was a reminder that the damage had done nothing to end the war and had instead frightened staff and left taxpayers with the bill.
“Unfortunately, vandalism on my office brings us no closer to peace,” he said. “It just costs taxpayers thousands of dollars in repairs.”
The worst damage has been in Melbourne, with Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus – a Jew whose family also fled Nazi Germany – targeted with vandalism that cost $2000. Government Services Minister Bill Shorten was the subject of attacks costing $5000.
In Sydney, the damage has cost $1000 at the office of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Marrickville and $1470 at the office of Energy Minister Chris Bowen in Fairfield.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said protesters from both religious extremes and the fringe left were abusing the rights and freedoms of a liberal democracy.
“Although these two groups despise one another, their point of intersection is in their hatred for Western democratic society and its Judeo-Christian values,” he said.
Albanese has rebuked the protesters for causing a “blockade” at his office by setting up outside the front door. Greens supporters have joined the protests at some electorate offices.
The tensions sparked a ferocious parliamentary debate in June, when Greens leader Adam Bandt accused the government of being complicit in the Israeli invasion of Gaza after Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton blamed the Greens for encouraging the protests.
Only 10 per cent of voters think it is legitimate to block access to an MP’s office as part of a protest, according to a Resolve Political Monitor survey published by this masthead in June.
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