NSW joins Victorian government in cancelling iftar dinners after boycott announced by peak Muslim bodies

The Victorian premier Jacinta Allan says she intends to mark Ramadan ‘respectfully with private occasions’ after Muslim groups announced a boycott of the now-cancelled annual iftar dinner. Photograph: Joel Carrett/EPA

The New South Wales government has cancelled its annual iftar dinner, just hours after the Victorian government called off its own event in the wake of peak Muslim groups announcing boycotts due to Labor’s position on the war in Gaza.

A spokesperson for the NSW premier, Chris Minns, told the Guardian on Thursday afternoon that “the annual iftar will not be going ahead this year.”