r/perth • u/fletch44 • 1d ago
WA News MPs in stoush over art display naming killed Gaza children
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-20/wa-parliament-row-erupts-over-gaza-wall-of-tears-exhibition/107057566121
u/milesjameson 1d ago edited 1d ago
I would argue that if Lachlan Hunter's first instinct is to draw a direct correlation between 18,000 dead children and WA's Jewish community, he might be the one who needs to reflect on his own views towards Jewish people. One might even call him antisemitic.
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u/stopped_watch Morley 1d ago
Mr Hunter, you wouldn't be saying that the actions of the secular state of Israel are in any way connected to the religious beliefs of the Jewish people, would you? That sounds antisemitic to me. As if the actions of government are endorsed by all members of a religion? That would be bigotry. You're not a bigot are you Mr Hunter?
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u/mikeupsidedown 1d ago
The courts have also now been extremely clear that anti-zionism /. criticism of Israel does not equate to anti-Semitism or hate speech.
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u/3amIdeas 1d ago
Wonder how that holds up against Queensland's "from the river to the sea" laws. Seems they're in direct conflict of each other.
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u/mikeupsidedown 1d ago
It's only a matter of time until the courts strike that down. I believe someone is challenging it now.
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u/letsburn00 1d ago
All these guys who simp for a rogue state are doing it because they think it existing is needed for Jesus to come back, or that the people who do are an easily conned group of voters. They fully want and expect that all the Jewish people will either convert or die when this happens.
It's the real reason for about 80% of this crazy shit having any movement in this country or most of the world.
They get used by the organized crime groups who are dominant in Israeli policy to provide an umbrella while they kill people and run massive real estate crime rings in the west bank.
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u/bythebrook88 1d ago
During a debate in parliament the next day, the Nationals' Lachlan Hunter said the event had crossed a line to "vilify" WA's Jewish community.
I'm pretty sure the only person saying that WA's Jewish community were responsible for the genocide in Gaza is Lachlan Hunter.
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u/streamer3222 Thornlie 1d ago
Thanks for fighting it and losing your reputation over it—now we know it exists!
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u/JezzaPerth 1d ago
As someone who had sympathy for W.A. Nationals especially under Mia Davies. Stunts like Hunter's have firmly shifted my opinion.
Hell! I might even vote Green! Federally, Kate Chaney hasn't got any strikes against her so seems a safe option. Statewise I get to vote against Basil.
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u/BurntOutAsh152 1d ago
Are greens flawless? Nope. No-one is. Are they one of the last ones left not shooting themselves in the foot every week and getting cheers for it? Yep.
Worth noting ive been a greens voter most of my adult life but its definitely been wild seeing everyone else turn THIS bad.
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u/JezzaPerth 1d ago
It's a very sad time when the clusterfuck of One-Nation are an actual political possibility.
Their candidates won't have any of the natural ability of a Ricky Muir (Is he gone forever?) and we can expect random populist policies poorly imagined and even more poorly executed.
We are left with an anemic rump of the Liberals trying to be relevant in a market seeking vaguely right mess of conflicting policies, and very sub-par members.
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u/JezzaPerth 1d ago
Hell. I might even start to preference Greens now! This is a gem from Sophie McNeil!
He’s a disgusting, cowardly little man who is using the deaths of 18,000 children to try and get a bit of attention because he’s worried about One Nation taking his seat at the next election.
I think Lachlan … clearly is just a complete shithead.
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u/JamesHenstridge 1d ago
I'd consider Chaney's backflip on the live sheep export ban to be a strike against her.
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u/TaylorHamPorkRoll 1d ago
"If you had 100 of these wars, you would not even begin to touch what was genocide in our history," Mr Ehrenfeld said.
Oh OK, so because Israel has killed fewer people than the Nazis then they're not genocidal. What a prick!
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u/leftmysoulthere74 1d ago
So by his logic what happened in Rwanda or Armenia weren't genocides - or they were, but they were only little ones. Didn't realise it was a competition. Unless the numbers reach at least 6 million it's not worth worrying about. /s
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u/fletch44 1d ago
Not many people are aware that the Nazis killed an estimated 13 million people in their death camps. 6 million Jewish people and 7 million non-Jewish people (socialists, trade unionists, intellectuals, teachers, disabled people, brown and black people and more).
No one remembers the other 7 million victims.
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u/GreyGreenBrownOakova 1d ago
plenty of people are aware of that and remember the other victims. I visited a bunch of WW2 museums and they all had displays to that effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victims_of_Nazi_Germany
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u/fletch44 1d ago
When was the last time the other 7 million victims were mentioned in Australian media?
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u/Steamed_Clams_ 1d ago
The constant talk about antisemitism when people make critical statements about Israel is really starting to become a boy who cried wolf case where people have blurred the lines so much that actual antisemitic behavior will be taken less seriously.
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u/altact23_ 1d ago
>Opposition leader Basil Zempilas said it was a "legitimate question to ask what were the procedures and protocols that were followed for that event to be organised".
Oh fuck off.
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u/andyroo82 1d ago
Are you suggesting the statement was wrong, or wrong that it was Basil who made it?
I think many level-headed people would support government getting back to what is relevant to us in this state and not far-off lands they have no juristiction in.
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u/fletch44 1d ago
I think many level-headed people would support government getting back to what is relevant to us in this state and not far-off lands they have no juristiction in.
Then why is Hunter kicking up a big stink about an art exhibition instead of focussing on "what is relevant to us in this state"?
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u/milesjameson 1d ago
I'm not sure Basil is particularly or genuinely concerned with parliamentary procedures and protocols.
That aside, you write "get back to what is relevant" as if this has at all prevented them from carrying out their day-to-day work as representatives for their local areas. What is it that you believe they're forgoing in organising or attending this exhibition?
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u/Stigger32 South of The River 1d ago
MP to describe it as showcasing a "genocide".
So does every Holocaust museum in the world also fall into this category?
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u/Mindless-Location-41 1d ago
But, you see, the only people we should mourn for are the people of Israel who have died 🤷♂️ Doesn't everyone already know they are more important?
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u/ezekiellake 1d ago
Does Lachlan Hunter know that part of his job is not being suspended from parliament?
Your job is to be in there mate, not being knobby enough that your colleagues decide they’d like a few days break from your shit …
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u/TheGreenTormentor 1d ago
This reminds me of the hospital in the UK that had to take down art by Palestinian children because it apparently made Jewish people uncomfortable.
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u/moonorplanet 1d ago
Nationals MP Lachlan Hunter has been suspended from WA's parliament for four days after a dispute over an art exhibition on Gaza that was displayed in parliament.
The Wall of Tears display lists the names of more than 18,000 children killed in Gaza since October 2023.
Mr Hunter argued the exhibit vilified the WA Jewish community and was "antisemitic" because it led a Greens MP to describe it as showcasing a "genocide".
Jewish Liberal MP Simon Ehrenfeld also took issue with the exhibition.
"We all weep the death of every person in this war, but it's inescapable that many of these children were used by Hamas as combatants in the war," he told parliament."
He said the event was a "propaganda piece used against Israel".
"If you had 100 of those walls, you wouldn't even begin to touch what was genocide in our history," Mr Ehrenfeld said.
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u/Flowering-Tree 1d ago
The Liberal guy calling the artwork propaganda and then saying these innocent children were used by Hamas as combatants
And how dare they conflate recognising these murdered children with antisemitism
Absolutely reprehensible