NSW ALP executive Amanda Fazio panned for ‘racist ranting’

A NSW Labor official has been condemned for an anti-Semitic social media rant in which she referred to Jews as a ‘race of whingers’, provoking a backlash from the Jewish community.

Amanda Fazio at a NSW State Labor Party conference at Sydney Town Hall.

A NSW Labor official has been condemned for an anti-Semitic social media rant in which she referred to Jews as a “race of whingers”, provoking a backlash from the Jewish community.

Amanda Fazio, a member of the NSW ALP’s rules committee and a former state Labor upper house president, recently criticised attacks on US actor Bradley Cooper for wearing a prosthetic nose in his biopic about Jewish conductor Leonard Bernstein, describing the Jewish community as whingers.

“Here we go again. The race of whingers complaining,” Ms Fazio wrote on Facebook. “By their logic, no Jewish actor should ever be cast as a non-Jew.

She dismissed suggestions the remarks might be found to be offensive after being condemned by local Jewish organisations.

Amanda Fazio with Anthony Albanese, posted on Facebook in 2019.

President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies David Ossip said her comments should not be tolerated.

“These bigoted comments are nothing short of despicable and seek to silence the Jewish community by making it seem as though there is something untoward, problematic or unusual about Jews engaging in public debate,” he said.

“Ms Fazio may find it uncomfortable but Jews – individually and collectively – have as much of a right as any other group to express their views.

“Aside from the prejudice inherent in her comments, Ms Fazio has demonstrated her complete ignorance of the Jewish community by pejoratively referring to a community of great diversity and complexity as a single ‘race’.

Amanda Fazio posted pictures with various Labor figures on social media including Bob Hawke. Picture: Facebook

“Bigotry such as this from a former parliamentarian may have found a home in Jeremy Corbyn’s UK Labor Party but it should not be tolerated in our cohesive, multicultural society.”

When contacted, Ms Fazio said she had no comment to make about the Facebook post.

“I don’t know what they are going on about,” she said from Morocco.

The rules committee is made up of nine members of the ALP and considers proposed party rule changes.

In the 2023 rules manual, breaches to the code of conduct occur if members “behave in a manner that constitutes discrimination … which includes discrimination or harassment towards a group of persons on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexuality, age or disability”.

The “elimination of discrimination” is also one of the basic principles of the NSW ALP branch rules.

Ms Fazio’s Facebook page where she posted the comment features pictures of her with prominent Labor figures such as Anthony Albanese, Bob Hawke and former leader of the NSW opposition Jodi McKay.

It is understood she is involved in the pro-Palestinian movement, including joining Labor Friends of Palestine at Australian Palestinian Ad­vocacy Network fundraising dinners.

The NSW ALP was contacted for comment.