Labor branch’s anti-Semitic and misogynistic Facebook memes revealed

Anti-Semitic, misogynist, and disrespectful memes shared on Balmain Labor’s Facebook page depict Josh Frydenberg as a Nazi and call a prominent Liberal woman a witch.

The official Facebook page of a Labor branch in the heart of Anthony Albanese’s electorate of Grayndler has been caught out posting anti-Semitic, misogynist, and offensive memes about prominent Liberal party figures, a day after the Labor leader attacked Prime Minister Scott Morrison for trying to “divide” people.

The page, Balmain Labor, describes itself as “the official page of the Australian Labor Party Balmain Branch” and links to the website of the NSW Labor Party.

In one post, dated March 4, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is seen photoshopped into a Nazi uniform under the caption “Bogan’s Heroes”.

Mr Frydenberg’s mother was a Holocaust survivor and a number of his relatives died in Hitler’s death camps.

In another post, dated April 3, Tony Abbott’s former chief of staff is attacked as a witch with the caption “Peta Credlin’s garage” placed under a photo of a row of old stick brooms leaning up against a brick wall.

Peter Dutton, Michaelia Cash and Linda Reynolds depicted alongside the PM on the Facebook page.

The meme from Balmain Labor facebook group.

The image was reminiscent of a 2011 incident which saw Mr Abbott, then the Liberal leader, photographed in front of a protester outside Parliament House who was holding a sign reading “Ditch the Witch”.

That event was routinely used by Labor as evidence of misogyny within Liberal ranks.

Screengrab from Balmain Labor.

A third post, dated January 16, attacks Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Pentecostal faith, with the words “Help me Sky Daddy, I f*cked up again” superimposed over a photo of Mr Morrison praying in church.

Most of page’s other posts are re-shares of official ALP posts attacking the Morrison government and unoffensive political memes generated by Labor supporters.

The revelations of the offensive posts come just hours after Mr Albanese accused Mr Morrison of “always seeking division” during Wednesday night’s Sky News leader’s debate.

The Balmain branch of the Labor Party, which is responsible for the site, claims to be the oldest ALP branch in Australia.

It has a storeyed history and in the 1980s was derided as the home of far-left “Balmain basket weavers” by former prime minister Paul Keating.

Screengrabs of a meme about PM Scott Morrison.

Today the branch is headed by former adviser and long-time friend to Mr Albanese, Larry Hand, who famously starred in the 1996 documentary Rats in the Ranks about his attempt to win a fourth term as Mayor of Leichhardt.

Mr Hand did not respond to a request for comment and there is no suggestion he is involved in the production or distribution of the memes.

Mr Albanese, who was the Labor Party’s left-wing assistant general secretary at the time, refused to be filmed during the making of the documentary, however in 2016 Mr Albanese attended a party at the Riverview Hotel in Birchgrove to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Mr Albanese has also given speeches and attended a number of events at the branch over the years, although his home branch is in the suburb of Marrickville, where he lives.

Labor officials were quick to distance themselves from the page, saying that individual branches will often run their own social media without any oversight.

A spokesman for NSW Labor said, “This is not an official Australian Labor Party page and its content is not authorised or endorsed by Labor.”

“The images should not have been posted.”