A tale of two Labor leaders

At the memorial for the Bondi Beach massacre in December, NSW Premier Chris Minns received a sustained ovation from the predominantly Jewish crowd as the event host David Ossip, President of the NSW Board of Jewish Deputies, reminded them that Minns had attended every one of the victims’ funerals.

When Ossip announced Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s name at the memorial, the same crowd booed him, not just for a few seconds but for a long time. It was personal. Albanese didn’t attend any funerals because he wasn’t invited. He said he didn’t want to show any disrespect by turning up uninvited.

The Jewish community’s polarised feelings about these two Labor leaders are an instructive sideshow to the public brawling that has erupted in Australia since the barbaric attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

The comparison between the two men is a testament to the power of personal conviction in politics. Minns’ government, especially his police force, has made a litany of errors and lapses since October 7 that have had devastating impacts on Jews in this country, emotionally and physically. Yet because of his personal leadership, many Jews have made a distinction between the man and his government and not held him accountable for its shortcomings.

From the outset, Minns reacted decisively, his actions projecting genuine empathy for Israel and the Jewish community.  The sincerity of his response made many Jewish Australians see him as their staunchest political supporter.

On October 8, Minns had the Israeli flag projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House, an immediate gesture of solidarity that also scratched a scab of antisemitism when pro-Palestinian activists  chanted “kill the Jews” (as a TJI eyewitness heard) and possibly “gas the Jews” and burned Israeli flags on the Opera House forecourt – two days after Hamas had massacred 1200 people in Israel.