Federal Labor MP’s office smashed and set on fire
Two teenagers have been charged with criminal damage over an attack on Labor MP Josh Burns' office. Photo: AAP
A federal Labor MP has condemned a “callous and dangerous” vandalism attack on his Melbourne electorate office.
Macnamara MP Josh Burns’ office had its windows smashed, and fires lit outside, in an attack early on Wednesday that is being branded as “politically motivated”.
The walls of the office were also graffitied in red paint with devil horns and slogans that read “Zionism is fascism”.
“It’s pretty bad inside there. There’s red paint all at the front of my office. There’s a lot of glass that needs to be repaired. There’s extensive damage and there were fires out the front of the office, so there was a lot of police activity this morning,” Burns said.
Police have launched a manhunt after at least five people were seen near the electorate office on Barkly Street, St Kilda, in Melbourne’s inner south-east, about 3.20am on Wednesday.
Investigators said small fires were lit in telecommunications pits at the front of the building before the group ran from the scene.
Burns, who is Jewish, has also previously had his election posters defaced. But Wednesday’s incident represents a dramatic escalation of attacks on MPs’ offices in protest at the conflict in Gaza.
My statement on my office. pic.twitter.com/wslrrYcbJi
— Josh Burns (@joshburnsmp) June 18, 2024
In a statement on X, Burns said the damage was “politically motivated”.
“My team won’t be at the office this morning, or until we’re told it is safe to do so, but we’re still here to help our community and can be contacted by email,” he said.
“I understand those who have seen images or vision of the attack might find it distressing.”
Later, a clearly distressed Burns said he was worried such attacks would escalate.
“I’m nervous about someone getting hurt or worse, and the police are taking it seriously and I’m very appreciative of that,” he said.
“If I could do anything to stop this conflict [in Gaza] from happening any longer, I would do it. But we can’t do that in Australia, we just don’t have that sort of leverage. What happened outside my office caused distress to my staff, my team, my community.
“It didn’t bring about peace in the Middle East. It just vandalised an office here in Australia and caused distress. And no amount of aggression and violence here in Australia is going to change what’s happening in the Middle East.”
Burns said the fires outside his office building, which is partly residential, had put lives at risk.
“How is that a peaceful act? How? I can’t see it. All I want to do is represent my community, to work hard for this amazing community that I live and work in. That’s all my staff want to do. And to prevent
that from happening was just a callous and dangerous act,” he said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whose Sydney electorate office has also been targeted, said there was no place for such political violence in Australia.
“This is an escalation of the attacks that we’ve seen. We’ve been talking about this. We’ve got to dial this down,” he said.
“The people who were responsible for this attack should face the full force of the law.
“For some people, they feel very strongly about issues in the Middle East. But it’s no reason to target MPs half a world away in Australia, and, in particular, the targeting of a Jewish MP is very distressing.”
I condemn the incident in St Kilda overnight.
Violence has no place in our community & vandalism and damage like this are completely unacceptable.
My thoughts are with Josh Burns, his team, and the local community. They have the right to feel safe.
— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) June 18, 2024
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said attacks on MPs’ offices were “not the way that we do politics in Australia”.
“This type of criminal activity – vandalism – is outrageous, and we need to make sure that the community understands that this is just not on,” she told ABC TV.
“For the minority who are engaging in this damaging and hateful behaviour, we urge them to stop, because it’s not safe.”
Teal independent Zoe Daniel, who holds the neighbouring seat of Goldstein, also condemned the vandalism.
“Antisemitism and violence should have no place in modern Australia. This is not protest, it is dangerous criminal behaviour and the perpetrators must face the full force of the law,” she posted on X along with a photo of Burns’ office.
Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell condemned the violence and damage but said the movement calling for the end to the war in Gaza was largely peaceful.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or with footage has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
-with AAP