Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
Bill Shorten’s Melbourne electorate office has been vandalised a second time after he called for Australians to “dial down the rhetoric” amid protests and rising community tensions over the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The former Labor leader and current Government Services Minister confirmed to this masthead his Moonee Ponds office had been graffitied with the slogan “dial down the apartheid Bill” early on Thursday morning.
Bill Shorten’s electorate office in Moonee Ponds was graffitied on Thursday morning.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Shorten had urged Australians to “dial down the degree of aggro” after fake dead bodies were dumped outside the electorate offices of seven Labor MPs in Victoria and Tasmania last Wednesday.
Violent scenes had erupted in Caulfield days earlier between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel supporters.
Bill Shorten’s office in Moonee Ponds on Thursday morning.
“Obviously someone took offence at me saying we should promote social cohesion and dial down the aggro and the confrontation,” Shorten told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Thursday morning.
“I also said in that interview, which has obviously triggered some hoon, that the scenes in the Middle East in Palestine and Gaza and Israel are incredibly distressing. And, of course, people have a right to have a view about it [and] they’ve got a right to express their view.
“But there’s a fine line isn’t there – or maybe it’s not fine, maybe it’s a really easy line to see – where you cross over, and you’re just sort of demonising and attacking people.”
Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter.
Most Viewed in Politics
Source: Read Full Article