Published: 1 April 2022
Last updated: 4 March 2024
In a speech to UAP members on Tuesday, Mark McMurtrie called the Union Jack ‘the union of Jacob that represents three Hebrew tribal flags’: WATCH VIDEO
A MAN WHO told a gathering of United Australia Party members that the Union Jack was secretly a Jewish symbol was not invited to address them, according to the head of the UAP, Craig Kelly.
At a rally outside Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday, Mark McMurtrie gave a bizarre, antisemitic speech to UAP members in which he said: “I notice there's a lot of people wandering around with the red and the blue flags.
“That piece of shit in the corner of that flag is the Union Jack, the union of Jacob that represents three Hebrew tribal flags.
“And if you're worried about me standing under the Jews and what they represent, that's what you're standing under when you carry that flag.”
In a video of the speech, captured on Twitter, it appeared that McMurtrie, founder of an organisation called the Original Sovereign Tribal Nation Federation, was addressing a UAP rally, which had started in the morning. Kelly told The Jewish Independent Media that the UAP organised the event, which was themed around Australia’s “trillion-dollar debt”.
But when asked how and why McMurtrie had got up to address the rally, Kelly said he had not been invited to speak, and he repudiated the comments McMurtrie made to UAP members who heard him.
“[Our event] commenced at 5am and we packed up at around 10am. Separately another group organised a protest, which they brought a stage on the back of a truck. This was not a UAP event. We have no control, over them - directly or indirectly,” he told The Jewish Independent.
“I was advised that this protest was about the forced injection mandates, a follow-up to an earlier protest back in February. As such, I accepted an invitation to speak, and I promoted my attendance to our members.
“UAP members were there as they stayed after our event finished. The UAP had no control over who was invited to speak, and we were not informed that Mr McMurtie was invited to speak.
I was there when Mr McMurtrie spoke. I was not able to hear clearly what he said… it was only later today I was advised about his comments.The UAP explicitly disavows these comments.
"I was there when Mr McMurtrie spoke. I was not able to hear clearly what he said… it was only later today I was advised about his comments.
“The UAP explicitly disavows these comments,” Kelly told The Jewish Independent.
“We have never made any issue of it when preselecting candidates, as we represent all Australians, and I’m proud to have discovered that we have candidates of Jewish faith running for us at the next election.”
The Minister for Home Affairs, Karen Andrews, condemned the speech when contacted by The Jewish Independent. "Antisemitism is disgusting and there is no place for it in Australia; I condemn it utterly. This Government does not tolerate racism or discrimination of any kind, nor any hate speech that would incite violence.
"We’re an inclusive nation and Australians should be proud of the rich multicultural tapestry that makes up modern Australia."
Photo: The rally outside Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday (Twitter)
