‘Unhinged slurs’: Extreme views from council candidates revealed
Labelling a Jewish organisation a “fascist group dedicated to terrorism” and celebrating being arrested are among the extreme views held by some Victorian council candidates.
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Labelling a Jewish group a “fascist group dedicated to terrorism”, encouraging a “revolution” and celebrating breaking the law and being arrested are among the extreme social media views held by some Victorian Greens and Victorian Socialists candidates running for local government.
And their opinions have been backed by their parties, with the Socialists praising the candidates’ “passion and colourful turn of phrase”.
In a pro-Palestine rant on X, Victorian Socialists candidate for Banyule Martin Hirst slammed the Australian Jewish Association as a “fascist group dedicated to terrorism”.
“The ugly truth is that Zionism is part of Australia’s political fabric because we’re a third tier imperialist power,” he posted after he nominated.
In a tweet about the elections themselves, Mr Hirst committed to pushing councils to “adopt pro-Palestine and pro-BDS motions”.
Criticising his opposition, the former university professor — who was fired over his controversial social media feeds — also said the Greens were “simply roadkill waiting to happen”.
Mr Hirst also retweeted a post accusing Victoria Police of being an “unaccountable fascist force” in September.
Australian Jewish Association president David Adler said the “unhinged slurs” directed at a major Jewish organisation in the current environment were Mr Hirst’s way of getting “undeserved attention”.
“Some of these far-left extremists do seem to have an unhealthy obsession with Israel, the world’s only Jewish State,” he said, noting he had “never heard of Martin Hirst”.
“This of course has exactly nothing to do with the role of a local council. Such attitudes should result in no support from mainstream reasonable Australians.”
Mr Hirst is not alone in his anti-Israel rhetoric, with candidates from the Victorian Greens and the Victorian Socialists both vowing to clog up council agendas with motions denouncing the Israel and Palestine conflict.
Manningham Greens councillor Deepak Joshi posted pictures of himself with a sign saying “Israel is a child killer” while Victorian Socialists councillor for Maribyrnong Jorge Jorquera, who is running for re-election, regularly speaks at pro-Palestine rallies.
Outside of the Israeli-Palestine conflict, Victorian Socialists Bayside candidate Liam Kruger celebrated breaking the law at a mining conference in 2019, saying he was “lucky enough to be in custody”.
“Charges are intentionally obstructing a police officer and two minor summary offences,” Mr Kruger commented on the post.
“We were blockading this mining conference so the cops would push us to make gaps and let people through.
“Was basically just resisting being bullied by cops more than others so was taken away.”
And Mount Alexander Greens candidate Lucas Maddock shared several posts on X showcasing the occupation and vandalism of the NGV foyer and water feature by protesters demanding the gallery “cease” its contract with “detention profiteers”.
One post shared on Mr Maddock’s handle read “NGV’s iconic moat is running red today as artists call the NGV to end ties with Wilson security #ArtistsAgainstAbuse” along with a picture proudly showcasing the vandalism of the national gallery.
Victorian Socialists Melbourne City candidate Daniel Nair Dadich said vandals graffitiing over a mural of Queen Elizabeth II’s face was an “improvement” when he ran for Moonee Valley in 2022, while Stonnington candidate Shan Sinclair called for a “revolution” while supporting “F--- the police” protests over the shooting death of Yuendumu teenager Kumanjayi Walker by NT Police officer Zach Rolfe.
Victorian Socialists spokesman James Plested said he wanted to “thank the Herald Sun for putting in the work to draw the public’s attention to the kind of passion and colourful turn of phrase our candidates bring to their participation in public debate”.
“We think these are exactly the kind of people who should be elected to councils in Victoria, and that they can be trusted to stand up for their communities on the issues that matter,” he said.
Mr Hirst stood by all of his statements, and said he was a supporter of the Australian Jewish Council rather than the Australian Jewish Association which he maintained was a “fascist group that supports Israeli terrorists”.
He said he supported defunding the police and that his comment about the Greens being “roadkill” was “entirely appropriate” and “funny”.
The party’s Maribyrnong candidate, Jorge Jorquera, defended his attendance at pro-Palestine rallies saying human rights were “absolutely local government business”.
“We can’t pick and choose who is worthy of human rights and who is not,” he said.
“Every single Jewish resident in Maribyrnong who has been in contact with me, has done so to express their unequivocal support for Palestine and their wholehearted opposition to Israel’s genocidal war.
“This is not to mention the hundreds of emails from residents from a middle-eastern background, expressing the same sentiments.
“A local government that stays silent on human rights violations is completely untrustworthy. It costs nothing to say ‘our City stands for human rights and justice for Palestine’.”
Meanwhile, Bayside candidate Liam Kruger said he was just 19 when he bragged about being arrested and was being “tongue-in-cheek”, noting he was given diversion and not convicted.
“I was ‘lucky’ not because it’s good to be arrested but because it meant I avoided being pepper sprayed,” he said.
“I take pride in fighting for what I believe to be right, and I’m not ashamed that it at one point meant a minor run-in with the police.
“I don’t take pride in being in police custody nor do I think people should be in and of itself.”
He said he “wouldn’t post something similar today” but that expressing a clear political attitude was the “most pressing issue of our time”.
A Victorian Greens spokeswoman said their candidates were “committed to peace and nonviolence as a core pillar of who we are”.
“We believe that people should continue to be critical of the state of Israel’s bombing of civilians in Gaza which has killed tens of thousands of innocent people, many of which are children,” she said.
“We believe that all protest should be peaceful and nonviolent.”
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