Former Labor MP Melissa Parke has abandoned her defamation suit against Liberal MP Dave Sharma over comments he made suggesting she was an anti-Semite who traded in conspiracy theories in relation to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
The lawsuit was withdrawn by Ms Parke on Wednesday, with both parties hailing the abandonment of the case as a victory for their right to freedom of speech.
Billed as a “star” Labor candidate for the West Australian seat of Curtin at last year’s federal election, Ms Parke suddenly withdrew her candidacy just weeks from polling day when it emerged she had made a speech to Palestinian activists where she rationalised Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and claimed that Israeli soldiers had forced a pregnant woman to drink bleach at a Gaza checkpoint.
Ms Parke was quoted as saying that while rocket attacks were illegal under international law, they were also “a reaction to and a consequence of decades of brutal occupation”.
Her comments enraged many Labor MPs, including then Labor leader Bill Shorten. And when Ms Parke withdrew from the race, Dave Sharma tweeted a link to an article about her resignation headed “Melissa Parke quits as Labor’s Curtin ‘star candidate’ over Israel remarks”.
In his tweet, set out in court documents, he wrote: “I think anti-Semitism and trafficking in conspiracy theories amounts to a bit more than mere ‘remarks’.”
Read the article by David Penberthy in The Australian.