The Sauce: Tongues wag as MPs Georgie Purcell and Josh Burns are spotted about town

Which MPs’ ‘relationship’ has people talking? And which pollie’s dating profile features a pair of giant scissors? Read these stories and more in The Sauce.

It is the political “relationship” that everyone is talking about.

Victorian Federal Labor MP Josh Burns, who is Jewish, has been spotted out and about with Animal Justice Party state MP Georgie Purcell — who also happens to be a regular social media poster about Palestine.

The Sauce has been told they were recently sighted in public at a South Yarra restaurant and later at a Josh Glanc comedy night.

The pair have known each other since 2019 when they were both employed as political staffers.

Purcell made headlines earlier this year after accusing Nine of doctoring an image of her by enlarging her breasts and exposing her midriff.

Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell. Picture: David Crosling

The image had been used as part of a story about the Victorian government’s controversial decision to allow duck hunting to continue.

Nine later claimed the graphic had been generated through automation and did not meet its editorial standards.

Macnamara MP Josh Burns. Picture: Supplied

Along with fighting for animal justice, the state Victorian MP is also known for her social media posts about Palestine.

It’s these that have set Labor tongues wagging, as Burns’ seat of Macnamara has the highest number of Jewish voters in Australia.

In one post made on Instagram on February 5, Purcell accused the government of failing to “call for genuine peace in Palestine”.

The post also criticised the government for “failing animals” by sending them into a “conflict zone”, after thousands of sheep and cattle bound for Israel spent weeks at sea after being forced to abandon a passage through the Red Sea due to the threat of attack.

Another post in October last year simply declared: “Ceasefire now.”

Purcell has also pushed the ceasefire narrative in state parliament, declaring in a speech in October that she mourned “deeply for the thousands of innocent Israelis killed on 7 October” but that the “safety of Jewish communities and Palestinian freedom are not opposing causes”. “It goes without saying that my thoughts are with the families of those taken hostage, and I hope that they will be returned safely to their loved ones,” she said at the time.

“I also acknowledge that 7 October is not where this all began, but rather Palestinians have lived under occupation for 75 years. Violence can never justify violence, and nothing justifies the continued silence on Palestinian oppression. Weaponisation of these attacks to fuel the indiscriminate and wholesale killing of innocent Palestinians must not only be condemned but be stopped for good.”

Mr Burns confirmed the pair had been seen out together but said there was nothing else to say

PARKING PROWESS

The picture that appeared on Sam Farraway’s now-removed online dating profile.

It may have been the ribbon cutting with the super-sized scissors, but we think it was the brag about being able to “parallel park in three moves”.

Either way, Upper House MLC Sam Farraway’s online dating profile has proven to be a winner, given rumours he may now be in a relationship.

Farraway was coy about answering questions from The Sauce, and noted that the profile had been created some time ago – and long-forgotten.

The profile — now taken down — showed Farraway to be based in the Manly catchment area where he has a unit.

Should the former Perrottet government minister run for the federal seat of Calare as is strongly rumoured, we’re guessing he’ll have to relocate a little further west.

COUNCIL BRAWLS

Council elections are more than four months away, but brawls over prospective candidates are well under way.

In Strathfield, local Liberals are taking aim at former State candidate John-Paul Baladi, who they claim has been out campaigning to run for council.

The local Libs are upset because they want to choose who their local candidates will be, and have accused moderate MP Mark Coure — who represents Liberal leader Mark Speakman on the party state executive — of also backing Baladi.

Liberal candidate for Strathfield at last year’s NSW election John-Paul Baladi.

One local Lib source alleged Coure was offering support for Baladi in return for having run as a “symbolic candidate” in Strathfield at the last state election.

The source also claimed Baladi was “actively campaigning” without formal approval from party headquarters, pointing us to photographs on his Facebook page, which, incidentally, is entitled “John-Paul Baladi — Liberal for Strathfield”, and a local community survey.

Posted on Anzac Day, the pics show a formally-dressed Baladi posing with Strathfield deputy mayor Sandy Reddy, with a caption thanking the community.

Asked whether he was backing Baladi for council, Coure told The Sauce that “no candidate selections had been made”, but added how the party needed to “take local government seriously”.

“We need grassroots candidates in areas such as Strathfield,” he said.

Baladi denied he had been campaigning, telling The Sauce that he had been helping Reddy in her “community engagement” work in the capacity of a local branch member.

We’ll soon find out.

‘BREAK-IN’ NEWS

A school parent accompanied by an ABC reporter triggered an internal NSW Department of Education investigation after a security guard claimed the parent had attempted to break-in to a school.

The guard was hired by the department to patrol the grounds of Willyama High School in Broken Hill — a school so badly riddled by mould it has been closed to the public with the Minns government ordering its rebuild.

A fence around the school features warning signs, including “Caution: Hazardous Materials”, “Danger: Keep Out” and “Danger: Do Not Enter”, while a gate has been secured with a padlock and chain.

According to an official report made by the guard to the department on February 7, a parent was seen pushing and pulling at the padlocked gate in a bid to gain access.

The guard stated the parent was accompanied by a media outlet.

When he asked what the parent was doing, the guard claimed the parent replied: “nah it’s all good, I’m allowed to do this”.

Unable to gain entry, the parent accompanied the guard away from the gate before being interviewed by the reporter on a road outside the school grounds.

A department spokesman confirmed a security guard had “interrupted a group of people attempting to gain entry to the locked Willyama HS site”, with the incident referred to SafeWork and local police alerted.

“The matter was reported informally to a Broken Hill Police superintendent by the Department of Education’s senior executive in Broken Hill, requesting that police include the school site in their general patrols,” the spokesman said.

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