In a galling line of questioning on the fourth day of NSW Budget Estimates, Liberal MP Susan Carter suggested she saw no difference between the organised neo-Nazis who stormed Sydney trains in balaclavas on January 26 and a public assembly on the Opera House steps calling for an end to the ongoing occupation of Palestine.
Greens MP and spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson said “If the Liberal’s Susan Carter truly can’t tell angry young men clad in black face masks, storming public transport and making hate signs apart from the consistent anti-war demonstrations we’ve seen from Sydney’s Palestinian community and their supporters for over four months now, she should be stripped of her title as Shadow Assistant Minister for the Attorney General.”
“I welcomed Minister Catley’s response in making a distinction that really should go without saying: on the Opera House steps there were families, children, people in mourning, and many others standing in solidarity and calling for peace. To wilfully conflate this movement with the racist vitriol of Neo-Nazi white supremacists is an insult to demonstrators, to the Police Minister, to those who survived the Holocaust and their families, and the dignity of the Parliament.”
“To be unequivocal: the difference between a protester and a Neo-Nazi is one is a Neo-Nazi.”
“This is the logical conclusion of the pathetic gotcha games the Coalition has been playing for weeks now with the Minns government. They’re lining up to try and score points like high school debaters while atrocious acts of violence and human rights violations are being waged. It is divisive, dangerous and heart-breaking.”
Earlier in the session, Carter suggested that the Police Minister should tell protestors demonstrating against the ongoing atrocities being perpetrated on Palestinian people to stay at home.
