Three nationalist activists have handed out satirical leaflets to early voters in Melbourne mocking the Liberal Party for its policies on Israel, free speech and anti-Semitism.
Prominent National Socialist Network member Joel Davis turned up in Kew on Wednesday afternoon wearing an imitation Liberal Party T-shirt that had the Australian flag in the logo replaced with Israel’s.
He was accompanied by two other men dressed as Orthodox Jews, one carrying a sign saying “Giving the Jews everything they want” and featuring the same spoofed logo. The pamphlets also contained the Israel flag logo and stated that they were authorised by Mr Davis for the NSN in Melbourne.
The flyers included a satirical four-point policy plan – “Israel First”, “Abolish Free Speech”, “Jail Anti-Semites”, and “Give Jews Free Money”, and Mr Davis explained the joke policies while handing them out to people lining up at a pre-polling centre in the seat of Kooyong.
National Socialist Network activist Joel Davis turned up in Caulfield, Melbourne, today and handed out satirical flyers with the Liberal Party logo’s Australian flag replaced with the Israeli one, and titled “Giving the Jews everything they want”.
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“Have a look at our policies, great policies, we love our Liberal Party, Israel first – Australia doesn’t need to defend itself,” Mr Davis said while offering voters the pamphlets.
“Abolish free speech, criticising Jews is another holocaust, it’s another shoah, we can’t allow that.
“Jail anti-Semites, we must jail all anti-Semites. Forget criminals, violent criminals, who cares? Anti-Semites are the real issue, making Jews feel safe is really all that matters. And we need to give Jews free money because we know the Jews are all short on cash.”
The satirical policies appear to refer to Liberal leader Peter Dutton’s regular expressions of support for Israel, his party’s support for federal and state “hate speech” laws, demands from Liberal MP David Southwick that Mr Davis be jailed for a previous peaceful protest, and a promise to give the Jewish community $35 million to rebuild a torched synagogue and a $32.5 million security funding package if elected.
Mr Southwick, who is Jewish, said on Wednesday one of the flyers had been slipped under his office door and shared photos of them on social media.
“Let me be crystal clear: this is not politics. This is hate. And it has no place in our community. The Liberal Party is proud to stand with the Jewish community and with Israel,” he said.
The flyers were also condemned by Jewish former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who was the MP for Kooyong before losing his seat to teal independent Monique Ryan at the 2022 Election.
He told The Age he thought the stunt was “disgusting and dangerous”, and said he hoped the “relevant authorities would take action”.
But the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) said it was not able to investigate the content of political messaging, noting there was an “authorisation line” present that would be reviewed to ensure compliance.
“We understand that the content will evoke a strong emotional reaction, but the AEC must look solely at electoral laws,” a spokesperson said.
“In saying this, there may be other bodies that could have an interest under separate legislation given the nature of the content.”
Header image: Left, Joel Davis and another activist (Telegram). Right, one of the flyers (Facebook).
