Federal MP Josh Burns has told a royal commission that antisemitic tropes questioning the loyalty of Jewish Australians are becoming normalised, creating an environment of fear and exclusion. In a submission and public testimony, Burns detailed a torrent of abuse he and his family have faced, including the firebombing of his electorate office.
Oldest antisemitic trope resurgent
Burns, the Labor member for Macnamara in Melbourne, wrote in an opinion piece that the accusation that Jews can never truly belong to the countries they call home is one of the oldest antisemitic tropes in history. He traced it from Spain's forced conversions to France's assimilation demands and Soviet suppression of Jewish identity. 'No matter how long the Jewish community contributed to a society, we were always suspected of serving someone else,' he wrote.
He cited one comment among hundreds in his submission: 'Which master is he loyal to and whom is he in service to?' Burns said such comments are often dismissed as political commentary, but for Jewish Australians they represent something 'much more sinister'.
Abuse escalating to violence
Burns revealed that the abuse has extended to his partner, Georgie Purcell, who faces antisemitic and misogynistic comments, including violent sexualised threats and harm wished upon their newborn baby. 'It’s a torrent of suspicion and dehumanisation questioning our loyalty to the country we love,' he said.
On 14 December 2025, this hatred culminated in the worst terrorist attack in Australian history, killing 15 innocent people, Burns noted. 'Not all words lead to violence but every act of violence begins with words.'
Antisemitism from multiple directions
Burns argued that historic prejudices are now presenting themselves on both sides of politics. 'The result is an environment in which antisemitism becomes legitimised from multiple directions at once,' he wrote. He pointed to far-right groups celebrating abuse of Jewish public figures and progressive activists justifying or minimising the same behaviours when targeted at the 'wrong' kind of Jew. 'This was the case when my office was firebombed, vandalised and had its windows smashed.'
Personal story of refuge
Burns shared his family history: his grandmother fled Nazi Germany as a stateless child and found safe haven in Australia. 'Australia gave my family everything that was denied to the Jewish people of Europe in the 1940s – safety, freedom and equality before the law,' he said. He noted he could count on one hand the number of times he experienced antisemitism growing up, but Jewish life in Australia has become 'increasingly isolating and, on too many occasions, dangerous'.
Call for end to dehumanisation
Burns emphasised that Jewish Australians are not asking for criticism or debate to be silenced. 'But we are asking for the dehumanisation and diminishing of our experiences to end,' he said. He called for protecting the freedom of Australians of every faith, ethnicity and sexuality to express themselves without vilification, the same freedom that brought his family to Australia.
