Lockdown engagement party organisers abused, sent death threats

A Melbourne hospital has sacked a worker who posted anti-Semitic comments as the families who held an engagement party in lockdown receive a barrage of abuse and death threats.

A Royal Melbourne Hospital worker has been sacked after allegedly posting anti-Semitic remarks in the wake of an illegal lockdown engagement party.

The Herald Sun has seen screenshots of the comment, which it has chosen not to republish.

The Royal Melbourne Hospital issued a statement on Twitter saying the woman’s post did not reflect the values of the hospital.

“The staff member is no longer an employee of the hospital and we apologise for the hurt and anger this has caused,” the hospital statement said.

“We stand with and support our Jewish staff members, patients and community.”

The families at the centre of the party have been bombarded with threats and racial abuse.

Authorities fear the party, which was attended by more than 60 people during lockdown, could become a superspreader event.

Four new cases are linked to the St Kilda East engagement party — three guests and one work contact - taking the total number of Covid cases connected to the event to seven.

Melbourne’s lockdown was extended by a fortnight and a curfew reinstated the day after the footage came to light.

A prominent leader in Melbourne’s Jewish community, who knows the family, said they “were not doing well at all” after receiving a barrage of anti-Semitic abuse online.

Police are probing whether an illegal engagement party was held.

Authorities fear the party could become a superspreader event.

The couple celebrated their engagement during Melbourne’s lockdown.

He said they had “gone to ground” since being subjected to threatening social media messages and voicemails.

“Everyone makes mistakes, and some people do break the rules, but the abuse they have been subjected to is indefensible,” he said.

The Herald Sun obtained several voicemails left on the phones of people believed to be in the video, including one that said they should “die”.

The mother of the groom said in a message: “We did wrong but the hate coming our way is just so mean … Look into your heart and try to find forgiveness”.

A day after publicly criticising the engagement party, Premier Daniel Andrews condemned the abuse of the families involved.

“The event that we spoke about at some length yesterday was not a function of being Jewish, it was a stupid function. It was an illegal function. Those people are being dealt with,” he said.

“Them breaking the rules was not a reflection on the Jewish community, more broadly. It was not an act of faith or culture, it was not something that anyone should use to reflect upon a broader group of people in our Victorian community.”

A video of the celebration appeared to show dozens of maskless family and friends crammed together as the groom-to-be joked: “Clearly this is legal because this is a group-therapy session – that’s why my father’s here”.

Amid laughter, a partygoer then appeared to say: “He’s a mental health clinician”.

Chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission Dvir Abramovich said the Jewish community had received thousands of hate messages on social media in the past few days.

“As this pandemic disrupts and takes a toll on our lives, we are seeing the outright scapegoating and the pointing of fingers at the Jewish community for this extended lockdown spiral out of control,” Dr Abramovich said.

“Seizing on fear and existing anti-Semitic sentiments, this engagement party has become a vehicle for malicious stereotyping and generalising, demonisation and calls for violence, which are frightening in their intensity.”

DOCTORS UNDER INVESTIGATION

Every adult who attended the party could be slapped with a $5000 fine.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency will also launch an investigation, with registered doctors allegedly attending the maskless party of dozens of family and friends.

A video of the bash appears to show the groom-to-be joking: “Clearly this is legal because this is a group-therapy session – that’s why my ­father’s here”.

A spokesman for the agency said it would allow police to conduct their investigations before looking into the matter itself.

“We can confirm we have received a number of complaints about registered health practitioners who allegedly attended an event in Melbourne during the weekend,” the spokesman said.

He said AHPRA “can and will take action for failing to comply with legal obligations”.

Premier Daniel Andrews tore into the 69 people who broke lockdown restrictions by attending the party last week – and now face collective fines totalling more than $350,000 – saying they had made “selfish” and “shitty” choices.

He confirmed that three of them had contracted coronavirus since the party and that “the only question is whether it will be a superspreader event”.

“What makes me really angry about that event is that each of those 69 people will have to be interviewed,” Mr Andrews said. “That is the work that they must do, but it is all entirely preventable.”

What made him angriest, Mr Andrews said, was that it “takes away and it devalues the amazing work that millions and millions of Victorians are doing”.

The party also came under fire from Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton, who called it “selfish, disappointing and outrageous”.

“There has to be consequences,” he said. “So many people are doing the right thing; they’ve had to defer their engagement parties, they’ve had to defer their weddings.”

FURIOUS REACTION TO BRAZEN BREACH

Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Daniel Aghion said he was “strongly disappointed” by the party and that the Jewish community was “angry”.

“The Jewish community has been doing it hard like everyone and the community feels let down by a small number of people,” Mr Aghion said.

He said testing had been increased in the Caulfield area and encouraged anyone who might be at risk to get tested.

A neighbour of the family said the community had “turned on them big time”, while a colleague of groom-to-be’s father said the decision to hold the party had left “everyone flabbergasted”.

“Everyone is seething, absolutely seething, people thought the family had ethics,” the colleague said.

“It is incredibly disappointing, nobody can believe they did it.

“The community is stunned.”

A neighbour of the family who hosted the party, and did not wish to be named, said while the family were “really good people”, their actions had frustrated the broader Jewish community.

Rabbi Menachen Wolf said the Jewish community were frustrated at the actions of those who attended the party.

“It does immense damage (to the Jewish community),” he told 3AW.

“There’s a lot of anger and complete upset about what happened.

Former MP Philip Dalidakis also called out the rule-breakers.

“I’d be shocked if they didn’t get it. You’d have to be pretty sick to not take this on board.

“He’s probably eating his words … thinking how foolish do I look now.”

He said reports that prayer groups were being held in private homes during lockdown were “definitely true”.

“It’s very upsetting because the very religion that believes in group prayer also believes in public health, and the law of the land,” he said. “It shouldn’t be happening.”

Former Labor MP Philip Dalidakis said he knew people in the video, and was “speechless”.

“I am genuinely shocked at the brazen disregard for our laws,” he posted on social media.

“Not one person in the video should be there, not one person in the video is using masks, not one person in the video is considering the selfish impact their behaviour is now having.”

Mr Dalidakis said he believed more than one doctor had attended the event and all should be dealt with by Victoria Police.

“They are good people who have clearly made a ridiculously poor decision,” he told 3AW.

Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar hinted more positive detections were going to be made after the St Kilda East cases emerged. Picture: Sarah Matray

“I suspect that they thought this couldn’t happen to them, so the wanton disregard for the law was done not out of malice but out of ignorance.

“But nevertheless, ignorance is not a defence.”

Testing stations have been set up amid calls for the Jewish community to get tested, following an urgent meeting on Saturday night.

Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said on Sunday the St Kilda East cases were likely to “be the start of another very significant body of work” for health officials.

Asked whether authorities were investigating an illegal gathering in relation to the cases, he said: “We’re certainly exploring all possible circumstances … there’s a lot of information to work through and I know the community is working very hard and is very concerned”.

The footage prompted the Rabbinical Council of Victoria and other senior leaders to plead for people to follow Covid-19 rules.

“We implore anybody considering flouting the law to refrain from doing so. We unreservedly condemn such actions, which bring risk and shame to the entire community,” the council said.

— Additional reporting by Mitch Clarke, Olivia Jenkins and Mitch Ryan