‘Peter Dutton stopped Liberal frontbencher reading my statement’, says Josh Burns

Labor MP Josh Burns says Peter Dutton is playing partisan games by stopping James Paterson from reading out his statement

Labor MP Josh Burns speaks at a vigil near the Adass Israel Synagogue of Melbourne after it was destroyed by fire on Friday. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Labor MP Josh Burns says a statement he handed opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson ahead of a joint press conference to address the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue was prevented from being read out by Peter Dutton, who he has accused of playing “partisan games” rather than presenting a united front across the major parties.

Mr Burns – a Jewish MP whose seat of Macnamara includes the suburb where the synagogue is located – lost his voice late last week and was unable to make comments at the press conference addressing the attack.

“James (Paterson) agreed to read out a statement from me, because I thought it was really important there be a united front,” he told ABC on Tuesday morning.

“Unfortunately, right before we got on, Peter Dutton intervened and told James that he wasn’t allowed to read out the statement.

“Peter Dutton decided that it was more important to play partisan games and to allow my words that I physically couldn’t speak to be read out.”

When asked about Mr Burn’s comments, Senator Paterson said he felt “very sorry that Josh Burns and his community have been abandoned by the Labor Party in the wake of this terrorist attack”.

Liberal senator James Paterson. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“But it is not the role of a Liberal frontbencher to act as a spokesman for a Labor MP,” he said.

“One of the many senior Albanese government ministers from Victoria should have been there to speak if Josh was not able to.”

Mr Dutton was contacted for comment.

The Coalition leader this week said Mr Burns had lost his voice in more ways than one, in a swipe at the Labor MP for not being more critical of his own party over its handling of the fallout from the Middle East conflict.

While Mr Burns on Tuesday pointed to the significant investment made by the government in ramping up security for religious sites following the synagogue attack, he said it was also clear “not enough” had been done up until now to stamp out anti-Semitism.

“In 37 years of living in this country, I’ve never experienced what I’ve experienced,” he said.

“ This has been my life, my world, really, since October 7, where it clearly was a turning point, where people have decided to target the Jewish community and target Jewish community members, institutions, organisations for whatever they’ve felt about what’s going on the other side of the world, and that’s unacceptable.”