Greens staff lead Palestine protest movement, voice support for vandalism of Jewish MP’s office

A group co-led by a Greens staffer promoted demonstrations outside the offices of Labor figures including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, while another party adviser justified the vandalism of Melbourne MP Josh Burns’ office, at which kerosene was found and fires lit, on the basis that he is an “‘Israeli’ occupation-supporting MP”.

New evidence about the activism of Greens staff exposes the links between the minor party and the wave of protests in Australia since Hamas’ October 7 attacks in Israel. It also hints that a Greens staffer, who was an organiser for environmental protest group Extinction Rebellion, had information about how protesters were able to breach security and gain access to the roof to drape a Hamas-linked symbol underneath Parliament House’s coat of arms. The Greens deny knowledge of the security incident.

Greens leader Adam Bandt with NSW senator David Shoebridge (left).Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The offices of Albanese and other Labor MPs have been disrupted and vandalised in recent months, prompting Labor accusations that demonstrators were blocking citizens from accessing services and thwarting the operation of representative democracy.

In January, NSW Greens senator David Shoebridge hired Amal Naser, an organiser and spokesperson for the Palestine Action Group. The protest group leads the weekly pro-Palestine rallies that are not located at MPs’ offices. But the group has also promoted on its social media pages a demonstration outside the prime minister’s office, organised a speaking event outside Education Minister Jason Clare’s office, and promoted protests outside the venue of an Albanese speech and a Labor conference.

Some of those events took place at the same time as leaked screenshots of parliament’s intranet showed Naser working for Shoebridge in a part-time community organising role, which ended in May. At the same time as her employment, she was being quoted in the media as a spokeswoman for the protest group.

A spokesman for Shoebridge said it was unsurprising “a Palestinian woman in her own time is pushing to prevent the genocide of her people”, however, “while employed and since her time at David Shoebridge’s office, this has not included any events at electorate offices”.

Amal Naser outside NSW state parliament last year.Credit: Steven Siewert

It is not suggested Naser performed work for the activist group during taxpayer-funded work hours in her Greens role, only that the group spruiked the demonstrations outside MPs’ offices.

Her hiring by the Greens offers a glimpse into the connection between the minor party and a movement that has won support within the activist left and tarred Labor, but attracted criticism for flouting parliamentary protest conventions and platforming figures accused of hate speech.

At a rally last month, Naser advocated for “armed resistance” to win Palestinian liberation. She also said rebel senator Fatima Payman was misguided to support Palestinian statehood because that step was part of the “failed” two-state solution.

“We will fight and we will resist until Israel is completely de-recognised,” she said.

Pro-Palestine protesters at Parliament House on July 4.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Naser told this masthead that her call for armed resistance was consistent with the “International Court of Justice [finding] Palestinians may legally use force to resist Israel’s illegal occupation”. Asked on Channel Nine on October 20 if she supported Hamas, she said: “No”.

Labor and the Coalition have sought to portray the Greens as a pariah in the parliament over the minor party’s approach to the Palestinian issue.

In May, Greens leader Adam Bandt dodged questions about whether he supported a two-state solution – a position backed by most pro-Palestinian figures – and Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have accused the Greens of either ignoring or fanning antisemitism.

Larissa Payne, a staff member for David Shoebridge, during an Extinction Rebellion protest in 2020.Credit: Extinction Rebellion

The Greens deny the claims and say the major parties were distracting from their support for Israel’s killing of tens of thousands of Gazans and an ongoing occupation deemed illegal by a top United Nations court last weekend.

Another staffer for Shoebridge, Larissa Payne, posted on Instagram about her love for “precious comrades” who breached security to get onto the roof of Parliament House, from which they draped banners accusing Australia of war crimes and displaying an inverted red triangle, which Hamas uses to signal a military target.

Payne, who has worked for the Extinction Rebellion climate action group, was asked by one of her followers how the group had evaded security, responding: “a convo for signalz heh, so very good.” This appeared to be a reference to the encrypted messaging app Signal on which people can communicate secretly.

A spokesman for Shoebridge said his office was “in no way involved in the protest”.

“That Greens staff have contacts with activists is hardly news. In this case, however, there was no such contact beyond a single public comment on an Instagram post,” the spokesman said.

The same staff member also claimed the widely condemned attack on Labor MP Burns’ office was not violent.

“Paint across the building and smashed windows of an ‘Israeli’ occupation-supporting MP isn’t violent,” she said.

Shoebridge’s spokesman said Payne “was not aware of the fire when the post was made”, and was under the impression the damage related to broken windows and paint.

Bandt criticised the incident at the time, saying “damage like this [is] completely unacceptable”.

The Melbourne office of Jewish MP Josh Burns was vandalised in June.Credit: Chris Hopkins

Victoria Police charged two people on Thursday in relation to two incidents involving vandalism of MPs’ offices - one on Barkly Street, St Kilda, on 19 June and the other on St Kilda Road, Melbourne, on 17 July.

An 18-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy were charged with burglary and two counts of criminal damage.

The 18-year-old Melbourne woman was bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 11 October.

The 17-year-old boy will face a children’s court at a later date.

The first incident occurred at an MP’s office on Barkly Street in St Kilda around 3.20am on 19 June.

This masthead last week reported Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong was gradually strengthening Labor’s criticism of Israel. Cabinet sources said there was minimal pushback when Wong suggested steps to toughen Labor’s position, including on key UN votes.

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