North shore teal distances herself from allegedly antisemitic posts
A teal candidate on Sydney’s north shore has used a forum for Jewish voters to distance herself from allegedly antisemitic posts made by her social media accounts in 2022, saying a former volunteer was responsible for the potentially damaging comments in the very close race in Bradfield.
On Tuesday, Sky News published comments it said were deleted after being made in October 2022 by social media accounts belonging to independent candidate Nicolette Boele’s campaign, which called on voters to donate “shekels to maintain our chutzpah” as part of a fundraising drive.
Nicolette Boele has distanced herself from allegedly antisemitic comments made by her campaign account in 2022.Credit: Thomas Wielecki
The teal candidate narrowly lost in May 2022 to Liberal MP Paul Fletcher, who is stepping down following a redistribution and amid polling which showed he was on track to lose.
Boele, who has maintained an electorate office and styled herself as Bradfield’s shadow member, has built strong grassroots support. But the posts’ appearance in the election’s final fortnight is potentially harmful if the race comes down to just hundreds of votes.
The electorate has the second-largest Jewish population in NSW after the seat of Wentworth.
Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian and Boele debating for the last time at a synagogue in Lindfield.Credit: Thomas Wielecki
In her opening speech at a Bradfield candidates forum convened by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies at a synagogue in Lindfield, Boele declared “antisemitism is a scourge”.
“Since my campaign’s disgraceful social media post back in 2022 I’ve made efforts to educate myself, to listen and learn and to start the work to model myself more in understanding antisemitism.”
Boele is challenging Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian, who is defending a margin of just 2.5 per cent in the two-party preferred vote.
Both candidates’ campaigns have already been threatened by potentially damaging revelations. Boele has apologised for allegedly making a sexual joke to a 19-year-old female hairdresser, which she has admitted was a poor attempt at humour.
Boele (left) and Kapterian at the debate, which was convened by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.Credit: Thomas Wielecki
This masthead also revealed Kapterian was named in a $650,000 settlement a former political staffer reached with the Commonwealth in September over discrimination and harassment claims, without admission of liability from anyone accused of wrongdoing. A spokesperson for the Coalition said Kapterian was not a party to the proceedings, and was unable to comment.
Tuesday’s forum, the last time the candidates are expected to debate, fell on the first day of pre-polling.
The two, who have shared the stage at several events, agreed on several policy areas, including defunding Palestinian aid agency UNRWA. Boele said she was open to supporting a judicial inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities, a Coalition policy.
The forum, which focused on the conflict in Gaza and social cohesion following a spate of antisemitic attacks across Sydney, touched on climate and energy policy and the cost of living, which this masthead has found is high in the minds of voters in Bradfield, which has only had Liberal members since its creation in 1949.
Speaking after the forum, Kapterian rejected the idea the Coalition had failed to protect the affluent, leafy electorate against cost-of-living pressures.
“Cost of living issues are postcode-agnostic. And this challenge has been at a national level. It’s been an avid failure of the current government.”
Boele said that her 1300-strong volunteers showed there was “momentum and appetite for change, for better representation” in Bradfield.
“It has been a safe seat for 75 years, with five guys in the same party, so I think we just really have to wait until May 3 to find out how Bradfield votes.”
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