Rock stars call on Freo MP for more action on Israel

Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker and guitarist Dom Simper are among 113 Fremantle artists urging WA Labor MP Josh Wilson to challenge his party’s positions on the Israel-Gaza conflict or follow his former caucus colleague Fatima Payman and resign from the party.

The letter, delivered to Wilson’s Fremantle office on Wednesday, was created and signed by musicians and artists living in Wilson’s electorate. These include Parker and Simper and other prominent Fremantle musicians Stella Donnelly, John Butler and Jake Webb of Methyl Ethyl.

Fremantle artists outside Freo Labor MP Josh Wilson’s office on Wednesday.

“We, the undersigned artists, write in pain and distress, with respect for your position as MP for Fremantle, to ask you to immediately take steps to reverse our electorate’s part in the genocide of Palestinian people, happening right now,” the group said.

The group praised Wilson’s history of anti-war and anti-nuclear advocacy and previous public concern about the number of Palestinians being killed by the Israeli Defence Force – but urged him to go further.

“We respect that you take your representation of Fremantle seriously, however, now, we ask you as our representative and as a fellow human to go much further, as far as peacefully possible, in removing us from support of these heinous and horrific actions by the present State of Israel,” they said.

The signatories called on Wilson to push internally for the government to recognise Palestinian statehood; guarantee permanent residencies for Palestinians fleeing the conflict; and sanction Israel.

Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker is one of the signatories of a letter urging Fremantle MP Josh Wilson to resign from his party.

They also urged him to push for the withdrawal of Australia’s ambassador in Israel, expel Israel’s ambassador to Australia and cease military and economic ties with the country.

If Labor did not respond to the requests the group urged Wilson to leave the party and sit as an independent.

“If the Labor Party will not align with these requests, which are also steps other nations have taken, and are in agreement with UN recommendations, we ask that you become an independent member,” they said.

Member for Fremantle Josh Wilson in February.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“We, the undersigned, would support you in taking this necessary stance, which recognises that Labor’s actions do not currently live up to our international treaty obligations, nor Labor’s policies on war crimes, nor what common humanity requires of us all in the face of such acts.”

Parker’s band Tame Impala is one of Australia’s biggest musical exports, and Parker is also the Fremantle Dockers’ number one ticket holder.

Wilson responded to the letter on Thursday and said he recognised the distress being felt in the community as the conflict raged.

However, he said he would not resign and defended his government’s track record.

“From the beginning of the awful conflict in Israel and Gaza I have called for an end to the violence, and I have been clear in saying that the ongoing bombardment of trapped and defenceless civilians is unconscionable,” he said.

“The Australian government has rightly urged a ceasefire through every available means, and has called on Israel to act in accordance with the interim judgement of the International Court of Justice, while at the same time delivering more than $80 million in humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

“I have no doubt that I can best serve the interests of the Fremantle electorate as a hard-working and principled member of a progressive Albanese Labor government that is taking on a mountain of long-neglected work to make Australia fairer, more sustainable, and more effective as a voice for peace.”

Pressure on Wilson follows a campaign by the WA Islamic community in March that resulted in Payman cancelling a planned Iftar dinner featuring her state and federal Labor colleagues.

Payman resigned from Labor in July in protest of the government’s position on the conflict.

Gaza health authorities say more than 42,000 people have been killed in the war since the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, where 1200 people were killed and 250 hostages were taken.

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