SCOTT Morrison sparked a massive stoush in Parliament today after accusing the NSW branch of the Labor Party of being anti-Semitic.
The Prime Minister’s remark ignited a shouting match between Labor and Coalition MPs during Question Time, prompting Speaker Tony Smith to issue a warning about the “degradation” in language at Parliament this week.
Mr Morrison made the accusation while defending his announcement that he was considering shifting Australia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem – a move that’s sparked fury from Indonesia and Arab nations.
It also emerged today that spy agency ASIO had warned the government about the move on Monday.
In response to Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek’s question about the furious What’sApp exchange between Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne and her Indonesian counterpart over the embassy move, Mr Morrison pointed out a number of Labor MPs backed shifting the embassy.
He also noted the NSW branch had banned a Jewish delegation from one of its events, saying it was “behaving in an anti-Semitic way”.
“And they want to pretend to the Australian people that they’re supporters of Israel?”
It sparked an uproar, and Labor frontbencher Tony Burke called on the Speaker to rule on the remark saying “an accusation of anti-Semitism is extraordinary”.
In a chaotic Question Time, backbencher Barnaby Joyce was ordered to answer a question about drought relief as Labor attempted to needle the Coalition as talk of a potential leadership spill in the National Party heats up.
Mr Joyce thanked Labor for the question, joking: “I know you miss me, I know you want me back.”
Read the article by Claire Bickers in The Daily Telegraph.