Peter Dutton has said Penny Wong should not represent Australia at a commemorative event at Auschwitz, saying it would be insensitive given the Albanese government’s position on Israel’s war in Gaza.
The foreign minister is due to attend the event in Poland next week to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration and extermination camp, representing Australia alongside Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, whose father fled Nazi Germany and whose great-grandparents were killed in the Holocaust.
Asked about a petition with 10,000 signatures saying she should not attend, the opposition leader said he had “a lot of sympathy” with those who had signed and said Senator Wong was “the most inappropriate person to go and represent our country.”
“I think when we have the Jewish community living in fear in our country and when you see the stance and the rhetoric that has been espoused by Penny Wong and by the prime minister… [he] should reverse the decision of Penny Wong to go,” he said.
“Penny Wong has real issues in relation to this issue. The relationship with Israel has been trashed. Penny Wong can’t go to Israel, and Mark Dreyfus was there under sufferance and… I don’t think he would have been receiving the warmest of welcomes.”
Wong advocates ‘respect for all people’: spokesperson
The personal attack continues Mr Dutton’s efforts to blame the government for antisemitism, heightened this week amid a series of antisemitic hate crimes in Sydney and Melbourne.
Speaking on Nine’s Today prior to the comments, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said he could not understand why Mr Dutton was “trying to politicise the issue of opposing antisemitism.”
“This is a moment actually where governments and oppositions need to come together and stand with the Jewish community against antisemitism rather than try and score political points on it,” he said.
A spokesperson for Senator Wong, who is travelling, said she “rejected antisemitism in all its forms.”
“Throughout her life, Senator Wong has been an advocate for acceptance, tolerance and respect for all people, regardless of race, religion, gender or sexuality. That will never change,” the spokesperson said.
“Commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz reminds the world of the horrors of the Holocaust and the long history of Jewish persecution, and it comes in the context of the rise of antisemitism in Australia and around the world.
“Senator Wong believes it is important that all people, of all backgrounds and perspectives, join in marking this anniversary… and maintain the determination that the atrocities of the Holocaust are never repeated.”
Speaking at the National Press Club, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was appropriate that Senator Wong and Mr Dreyfus attend alongside antisemitism envoy Gillian Segal.
“Penny Wong is someone who understands racism and discrimination. And anyone who knows Penny Wong and her life story understands that… She has stood up against antisemitism at each and every opportunity and will always continue to do so,” he said.
“She’s someone for whom a core belief in the dignity of every human being is just a part of her character, as much as any person I have met in my entire life.”
Earlier on Friday, Nationals Senator Matt Canavan said the Auschwitz event should not be politicised.
“I think we could all put those differences aside to reflect on the shocking and tragic loss of life during World War II and recognise that,” he said.
Petition signatories hurl personal abuse at Wong
The petition Mr Dutton endorsed was circulated by Janet Sernack on the website change.org, which allows users anywhere in the world to sign any petition with a few clicks, without requiring verification other than providing a valid email address.
At the time of writing, the petition had garnered more than 10,000 signatures.
“Unfortunately, we feel strongly that Senator Penny Wong is not the right person to represent us at this critical juncture. Throughout her tenure, she has not shown the level of understanding, empathy or compassion that our community expects and deserves.”
Mr Dutton said he had “a lot of sympathy with the 10,000 people who’ve signed the petition… They wouldn’t have done it lightly.”
Comments from signatories published on the petition’s webpage include many stating Senator Wong is the wrong person to represent Australia, but also a torrent of personal abuse directed at her, including many accusations of antisemitism.
One commenter who did not provide a full name said “sending her would be like sending Hitler himself”.
Senate president reportedly pulled from ‘last of its kind’ event
Media reports have suggested Senate President Sue Lines was originally slated to lead Australia’s delegation to the commemorative event, but that these plans changed after the resurfacing of comments she had made in 2022 likening Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank to apartheid.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, which is organising the event, has described it as “an opportunity for joint commemoration and global reflection on the significance of the events of the past…
“Until the liberation of some 7,000 prisoners remaining at the site of the camp by soldiers of the Red Army, the German Nazis murdered approx. 1.1 million people in Auschwitz, mostly Jews, but also Poles, the Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and people of other nationalities,” the event website reads.
All Auschwitz survivors have been invited to the event. In a statement on the website, survivor Michael Bornstein says “nothing will be easy about returning to Auschwitz, 80 years after I was liberated. This commemoration will be the last of its kind. We will be there. Will you stand with us?”
