Music industry body under fire for ‘promotion of antisemitism’ at awards night

The Queensland Music Awards has been condemned by the state’s peak Jewish group and stripped of council funding and support after a jazz musician won her category for a composition called River to Sea.

While receiving her award on Tuesday night, Brisbane-based jazz pianist and composer Kellee Green accused the Australian government of helping Israel “kill innocent Palestinian men, women and children”.

Kellee Green won the 2025 QMA jazz award for her pro-Palestine song River to Sea.Credit: Queensland Music Awards, Facebook

The title of her seven-minute song appears to reference the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

Jewish groups regard the “from the river to the sea” slogan as a coded call for the elimination of Israel, while others have insisted it is simply a call for freedom and equal rights for Palestinians.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said on Thursday that handing a major prize to “an offensively titled anti-Jewish song raises serious questions about whether the awards have been hijacked by extremists”.

“The promotion of antisemitism at Tuesday night’s Queensland Music Awards was utterly shameful and divisive,” Schrinner said. “Music should be a positive force that brings people together, not tears them apart.

“As a result, we will be immediately withdrawing our funding and support for these awards,” he said.

QMusic, the industry body responsible for producing the awards, receives funding from three levels of government, including $25,000 from Brisbane City Council.

Judges were provided with the song title, artist name and audio recording but no additional context or background information about the 500 entries submitted to the awards.

Chief executive of the industry body Kris Stewart said he was “deeply saddened” by the council’s decision to revoke funding.

“While we recognise that this phrase carries political connotations, the title did not stand out as divisive with the volume of songs received,” he said.

“We acknowledge the sensitive nature of this moment and the impact it has had on some members of our community. We do not wish for the Queensland Music Awards to be a platform for political debate. The intention of the event is, and always has been, to celebrate the work of our state’s artists and industry,” Stewart added.

A QMusic spokesperson said Green did not wish to comment. Her website is now private and her Instagram and LinkedIn pages have been deactivated.

Queensland Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek said the music awards “should have never been the place for this divisive commentary to occur”.

“There are consequences for words and actions. I have sought an explanation from QMusic. I will be questioning the awards process, current eligibility criteria and comments made at the awards ceremony,” he said.

The Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies has called for QMusic to revoke Green’s award, and for the federal and state governments to “urgently review how this situation could have happened”.

“The Jewish community has experienced the sharpest rise in antisemitism in its 160-year history since October 7 and this latest incident is yet another example of how hate speech happily masquerades as art or activism,” they said.

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