Peter Dutton has launched an extraordinary attack on the Labor MP Josh Burns, claiming that the Jewish politician has failed to speak up about antisemitism in the community, despite numerous public statements and speeches, including a joint press conference with a senior Coalition member hours after the Melbourne synagogue attack.
The opposition leader’s comments came just hours after the federal minister Chris Bowen accused the Coalition of “disgusting” attempts to politicise the attack on the Ripponlea synagogue, saying it should be a moment for national unity rather than political point-scoring.
Burns was quick to dismiss Dutton’s comments, saying his electorate office had been targeted and he has been standing up for his community “every day”.
As Victorian and federal police met to discuss whether Friday’s firebombing should be branded a terrorist attack, the opposition increased its criticism of the Albanese government’s response.
Dutton claimed in a press conference on Monday that the Jewish community was “rightly” critical of Burns and Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan. Burns appeared at a press conference with shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson – who was alongside Dutton at his Melbourne event – just hours after the synagogue fire.
Asked if it was “fair” to criticise Burns, Dutton doubled down.
“Josh is a nice guy but Josh lost his voice long before the weekend,” he said. “Josh hasn’t stood up to a weak prime minister, and the job for a Labor MP is to stand up to a prime minister who has put political interests of the Labor party ahead of our national security interests.
“When people were brought in from Gaza, people who hadn’t had the security checks undertaken on tourist visas, that’s when Josh Burns should have been speaking up … So I don’t doubt Josh Burns’ intent, his passion, but he’s part of a political party here which is the problem.”
Burns represents the seat of Macnamara, which has a high Jewish population and is host to the Ripponlea synagogue.
Burns’ office was vandalised in June and the MP has released numerous statements and made numerous speeches condemning antisemitic violence, as well as being a constant presence in the media, including on Monday morning.
“This has been my life, my world, my community,” Burns said on Monday. “My office was attacked. I’ve spent every day working as hard as I can with my community and standing up for them.
“It doesn’t serve the Jewish community to be fighting amongst the political class. Peter Dutton can say whatever he likes about me. I honestly couldn’t care less. I’m interested in supporting my community.”
Paterson also appeared to link the Ripponlea fire to Labor’s stance on antisemitism, claiming that the government should have directed federal police to target anti-Jewish hatred more strongly.
Bowen denounced the synagogue attack as “horrendous” while condemning the Coalition for its response.
“The attack on the synagogue is the fault of the person who attacked the synagogue,” the Labor frontbencher told ABC radio.
“For the opposition to try and sow discord and make political points is absolutely disgusting. One of the lowest things I’ve seen in my time in politics.
“James Paterson and Peter Dutton need to have a good look at themselves. This is a moment for national unity and they have not risen to the moment.”
Dutton announced a future Coalition government would launch a dedicated antisemitism taskforce to be led by the AFP and other federal authorities. It would also direct the AFP to prioritise investigating antisemitism and cancel the visas of anyone involved in antisemitism.
Dutton claimed Jewish hatred had “been allowed to fester” and said: “It will only get worse.”
The Coalition had criticised the government for not immediately branding the synagogue arson an act of terrorism – a designation that law enforcement authorities have not yet made.
Albanese said on Sunday that there was a “technical process” to class an attack as terrorism but that, in his “personal perspective”, the Ripponlea attack “certainly fulfils that definition of terrorism”.
The federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, who is Jewish, said the attack had caused distress in the community but he shied away from branding it terrorism.
“As to the formal technical descriptions, let’s leave that to police because they’re the ones that are conducting the investigation,” he told ABC TV.
“We let commonwealth agencies who are assisting Victoria police in their work to do just that – and let them make the announcements.”
Paterson also criticised Labor MPs for denouncing Islamophobia and antisemitism in the same sentence. He claimed that “sent a very bad message to the Jewish community and others that their experience of racism, their experience of bigotry, is not worthy of stand-alone condemnation”.
He said Labor should have directed the AFP to more aggressively pursue acts of antisemitism.
Bowen accused Paterson of an “unbelievable misunderstanding, deliberately, of the separation of powers between politicians and the police”.
“This is not and shouldn’t be a matter of partisan politics,” Bowen said. “It is not the job of the prime minister, or the home affairs minister, to sit down with the AFP [and say], ‘We want you to prioritise this law but not that law.’
“There’s a process to be followed. The prime minister’s made his views clear but he’s not the police commissioner of Victoria.”
