Senior Labor minister Rose Jackson has called out the “grossly offensive” behaviour of rogue MP Mark Latham after he used parliamentary privilege to compare the premier to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Latham on Thursday described Chris Minns as “the Fuehrer” and suggested he would be appointed White Australia’s “chief recruitment officer”, referencing the premier’s comments on Wednesday warning prospective members of the neo-Nazi party to prepare to have their identities made public.
Minns on Wednesday also highlighted the need for 750 people to submit their names and addresses to the electoral commission should White Australia register as a party for the next election.
Independent MP Mark Latham has long suggested there is no antisemitism crisis in Sydney. Credit: Janie Barrett
The outburst came days after more than 60 black-clad members of White Australia, aka the Nationalist Socialist Network, rallied outside state parliament, sending the government and police scrambling to explain how the demonstration was authorised.
Latham, who has long suggested there is no antisemitism crisis in Sydney, said the premier was using Saturday’s neo-Nazi rally as “a miracle weapon” to prove antisemitism is rife in the city.
“There was another political leader once sitting in his bunker waiting for the miracle weapon,” Latham said, alluding to Hitler.
Latham went on to refer to senior Minns government ministers as “generals”, including “frau” Jackson, who “works in crappy public housing estates”, and made a veiled swipe at Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig’s Jewish identity. He used the German term “herr” to refer to Hoenig, who is a child of a Holocaust survivor, and fellow MP Steve Kamper.
Jackson said Latham’s comments comparing Minns to Hitler, his derogatory remarks about public housing tenants and his implication about Hoenig’s religion were unbefitting of a member of parliament.
“In a way, I’m desensitised to the contributions of this member … but I do say this, that there is a line that this member consistently crosses,” she said.
She called on others in the parliament to denounce his comments.
Latham has not apologised and instead shared a clip of his speech on social media.
The state government is continuing to grapple with the fallout after neo-Nazis held a sign outside the parliament calling on the “Jewish lobby” to be abolished. The rally was approved by police, and both the premier and the police minister’s offices say they were not made aware of the plans ahead of time.
The government will attempt to push through more legislation clamping down on Nazi slogans and hate speech, and giving police powers to move on protesters harassing people at a place of worship, before the end of the year. The parliament has one more week, and a possible reserve week, to make the changes.
The Herald earlier on Thursday revealed a Sydney Trains employee was stood down while the agency investigated his presence at the rally. Cooper Stephens stood alongside well-known neo-Nazis when they shouted “blood and honour”, a Hitler Youth slogan.
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