Bronwyn Bishop has made an on-air apology on Sharri Markson’s Sky News program after accusing the federal MP Sophie Scamps of being “part and parcel of the antisemitic movement”.
After a threat of legal action from Scamps, a teal independent who holds Bishop’s old seat of Mackellar, the former Liberal minister and Speaker agreed to apologise on Tuesday night’s program.
“On 5 March 2024, I appeared on Sharri Markson’s program and said that Dr Sophie Scamps, the federal member for Mackellar, is part and parcel of an antisemitic movement,” Bishop said.
“I should not have said that. Dr Scamps has called for funding to be restored to UNRWA [UN Relief and Works Agency] by Australia, to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This does not make her an antisemite. I should not have suggested that, and I apologise to her for the offence, distress and harm I caused her.”
Last month Scamps joined several other independents in signing a letter to the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, calling for a solution to the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The letter was written after Australia temporarily paused its funding of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees while an investigation was under way into several employees accused of taking part in Hamas’s 7 October attacks in Israel.
“We recognise the government needs to balance these two legitimate concerns – ensuring our aid does not support terrorism, while supporting Palestinian civilians in a dire humanitarian situation,” the letter said.
It’s the second time in four months Bishop, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, has been called to account for slurs she has made on Markson’s Sky After Dark program.
In November the former Liberal senator said the ABC was “aligning themselves with the policy of Germany’s National Socialist party for the elimination of Jews” in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
The ABC News director, Justin Stevens, called for an apology, saying “these comments and their characterisation of the ABC are not only wrong and deeply offensive but went completely unchallenged”. Bishop made an on-air apology.
The recent remarks were made when the topic of the MPs’ letter was raised by Markson.
Markson said she was “really surprised” that teal independent Allegra Spender was a signatory because “she represents the largest Jewish population” in the seat of Wentworth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Bishop said Scamps was also a signatory, which “just confirms that she is part and parcel of the antisemitic movement”.
“Now she will cry ‘No I’m not! No I’m not!’ but if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck I think it gets to be a duck,” Bishop said.
Bishop’s comments were made on the live broadcast and the interview was published on the Sky News Australia website and its social media accounts.
They have now been removed.
