‘Hijacked by extremists’: Mayor pulls $25k in funding after award winner’s rant

Adrian Schrinner has exploded after a teacher accused the government of helping Israel kill innocent Palestinian men, women and children during an “offensive” speech at the Queensland Music Awards. SEE THE VIDEO

Queensland’s music industry body has been accused of anti-Semitism after a jazz composer won a major award for a pro-Palestinian song titled “River to Sea”.

Composer Kellee Green — also the arts director at Brigidine College — then used her acceptance speech at the Queensland Music Awards to accuse the federal government of helping Israel “kill innocent Palestinian men, women and children”.

The decision by music industry body QMusic to award Ms Green has been slammed as “deeply offensive” by the state’s peak Jewish organisation.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner on Thursday slammed the composer’s actions and has “immediately” withdrawn $25,000 funding and support for the awards.

“The promotion of anti-Semitism at Tuesday night’s Queensland Music Awards was utterly shameful and divisive,” Mr Schrinner said.

“The decision to hand a major prize to an offensively titled anti-Jewish song raises serious questions about whether the awards have been hijacked by extremists.”

Kellee Green won the award before putting the government on blast.

Mr Schrinner said the divisive and offensive actions that took place at the awards night have no place in “our city”.

“Allowing such vile hate speech to occur shows the awards seem to be no longer capable of achieving their own stated goal to ‘promote diversity and inclusion’,” he said.

“As a result, we will be immediately withdrawing our funding and support for these awards.”

QMusic president, Vivienne Mellish said she did not have any further comment to make on the matter and that her team had provided “extensive information” on the judging processes.

Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg has now called on the federal and state government, which fund the QMA’s, undertake a review and for Ms Green’s award to be revoked.

The 7-minute instrumental song bears the title “River to Sea”, a phrase used by militant group Hamas that Jewish groups say is anti-Semitic and was once branded “hate speech” by Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner says funding for the awards has been withdrawn. (Image/Josh Woning)

Ms Green used her acceptance speech at the QMA’s on Tuesday night to acknowledge the reason the song was written before accusing Israel of a 76 year long genocide against the people Palestine.

“Our own Government is complicit in war crimes by supporting Israel both in words and actions by allowing the export of weapons and weapon parts to Israel to directly kill innocent Palestinian men, women, and children,” she said.

Israel and Hamas have been locked in a war — with a short ceasefire — since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas and other militant groups, in what was the largest loss of Jewish life on any single day since the Holocaust.

According to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian health authorities more than 50,000 Gazans have been killed since that time.

Ms Green’s speech drew widespread applause in the room and Ms Green has since posted the footage to her own social media channels.

Kellee Green performing.

Mr Steinberg said QMusic’s decision to award Ms Green and her offensively titled song was “yet another blow” to the Queensland Jewish community amid intensifying anti-Semitism locally and nationally.

“The song has been accepted at the Queensland Music Awards … how does that happen, why is that okay?” he said.

The Queensland Government provides under half a million dollars in annual funding to the QMusic organisation.

Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek said there was no place for any form of hate discrimination, racism or anti-Semitism in Queensland.

Mr Langbroek has sought an explanation from QMusic following the “divisive commentary” at the awards ceremony.

“The Queensland Music Awards should have never been the place for this divisive commentary to occur,” he said.

“There are consequences for words and actions.

“I have sought an explanation from QMusic and I will be questioning the awards process, current eligibility criteria, and comments made at the awards ceremony.”

QMusic Ceo Kris Stewart said he recognised there were learnings from this year’s event and committed to providing members with an update on any changes ahead of next year’s awards.

Mr Stewart said he was “deeply saddened” by Brisbane City Council’s decision to revoke funding and didn’t wish for the awards to be a platform for “political debate”.

John-Paul Langbroek has sought an explanation from QMusic. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

“We acknowledge the sensitive nature of this moment and the impact it has had on some members of our community. We do not wish for the Queensland Music Awards to be a platform for political debate,” Mr Stewart said.

“The intention of the event is, and always has been, to celebrate the work of our state’s artists and industry.”

Over 500 entries were submitted to the QMAs across a wide range of genres with judges only provided with a song title, artist name and audio recording.

“No additional context or background information about the artist or song is shared,” Mr Stewart said.

“Among these, an instrumental song with no vocals or lyrics titled River to Sea was included. While we recognise that this phrase carries political connotations, the title did not stand out as divisive within the volume of songs received.”

Ms Green was contacted for comment.

The furore over QMusic’s decision and Ms Green’s comments is the latest in a string of controversies enveloping Australia’s art scene over accusations of anti-Semitism.

In February Creative Australia controversially withdrew its commissioning of Lebanese Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi as one of the nation’s two representatives at the 2026 Venice Biennale.

Originally published as ‘Hijacked by extremists’: Mayor pulls $25k in funding after award winner’s rant