Tony Burke accuses Greens, Coalition of using Gaza for political gain

For the first time Labor Minister Tony Burke addresses the threat of Muslim Votes party in his electorate — and accuses his political rivals of inciting bigotry and bullying.

Labor heavyweight Tony Burke has come out swinging in defence of his southwest Sydney seat, accusing activists of bullying community organisations, and the Greens of using misinformation to “throw petrol on the fire” of local tensions.

Speaking for the first time about the new “Muslim Votes” threat to his seat of Watson — an electorate which is almost one-quarter Muslim — Mr Burke said the Greens and other activists were trying to weaponise the Gaza conflict for domestic political gain.

In a no-holds-barred interview with The Saturday Telegraph, the Home Affairs and Immigration Minister said he was actually working to improve and save the lives of Palestinians, while the Greens and others engaged in “performative” outrage that achieved nothing.

The national security supremo said he was “completely” confident the refugees he had helped relocate from Gaza would not pose a threat to Australia.

In contrast, he said there was a “direct line” between rising attacks on both Jewish and Muslim Australians and the inflammatory rhetoric of the Greens and the Coalition.

Tony Burke says there has been a clear escalation in both Jewish and Muslim Australians being targeted. Picture: Richard Dobson

“(Greens leader) Adam Bandt makes those rants, and they’ve never protected a single Palestinian,” he said.

“The Greens move motions in Parliament routinely. You get similar motions being moved by the Opposition, and the only purpose of them is domestic politics.

“None of them have any impact on the region.

“When we provided aid, that has mattered. When we voted in the UN General Assembly, that has mattered. There are things that we’ve done that do matter in terms of international pressure, and there’s a whole lot that’s happening at the moment which is performative games which just throw petrol on the fire.”

Mr Burke – the leader of the government in the lower house – said there had been a clear escalation of both Jewish and Muslim Australians being targeted since October 7 last year, and that inflammatory rhetoric from the Greens and their activist allies only fuelled those attacks.

“Since October 7, the nature of the debate has meant if you're a Jewish boy wearing a yarmulke, or you’re an Islamic woman wearing a hijab, you are more likely to receive abuse in the public square than you were 12 months ago,” he said.

“That has happened, and every time we raise the temperature there might be politicians thinking they’re harvesting votes on either side of the debate, but the raising of the temperature means those vulnerable people cop it worse every single time.

“And that’s real and it’s immediate, and it’s been happening for nearly a year now.

“I think there’s a direct line between how the Greens have used the parliament and how Peter Dutton has used the parliament and the increased bigotry that’s happened in the country.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt at a pro-Palestine rally in front of Parliament House in Canberra in 2023. Picture: Martin Ollman

Key among the “misinformation” he says is being circulated by the Greens is the fake claim that Australia provides arms to Israel.

“A whole lot of people in the community, because of the misinformation put out from the Greens, think that we are sending weapons to Israel,” he said.

“For at least the last five years, Australia hasn’t sent any weapons to Israel. It’s just not true.”

He also took aim at social media platforms, whose algorithms deliberately amplified and spread that misinformation.

The veteran MP, who has lived in and around Punchbowl all his life, has been the most senior and outspoken minister in raising concerns about Gaza publicly, while also working behind the scenes.

Yet he said activists had tried to turn community organisations against him.

“There’s been a bit of bullying – I don't know who’s behind it, so I can’t speculate – but there’s been some bullying of different organisations saying, you know, don’t you dare deal with the government, or don’t you deal with him and this sort of thing.”

Former NSW premier Bob Carr and Jamal Rifi at the launch of the Friends of Burke campaign. Picture: Alexi Demetriadi

However these efforts were short-circuited by a spontaneous campaign launched by respected community leader Jamal Rifi.

Burke, a lifelong Catholic who still attends mass, also questioned the wisdom of overtly making religion a political issue.

He said he did not expect Catholics to vote for him because of his faith, and likewise the self-proclaimed “Muslim Votes” should not claim to be representative of all or even most Muslims — and questioned how much or how widely they had even consulted the Muslim community.

As for his own Muslim support base – now overtly championed by Dr Rifi – Mr Burke said he had not asked for any assistance nor even knew it was in the offing until the Belmore GP and others went public in T-shirts emblazoned with “Friends of Tony Burke”.

“It brought a very grateful smile,” he said.

Originally published as Tony Burke accuses Greens, Coalition of using Gaza for political gain