Aussie Lawmaker Tossed Over ‘Goebbels’ Flap
Tony Abbott Image by getty images
A Jewish lawmaker was thrown out of Australia’s Parliament after protesting Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s description of the opposition leader as the “Dr. Goebbels of economic policy.” Joseph Goebbels was the propaganda minister for Nazi Germany.
Opposition Labor Party lawmaker Mark Dreyfus, one of three Jewish lawmakers in Parliament, jumped up to protest Abbott’s choice of comparisons, eventually being thrown out of the House of Representatives chamber. Jewish Labor lawmaker Michael Danby left with him in solidarity.
“There are no Nazis here and we shouldn’t be making comparisons with the paradigm of the ultimate evil in politics to heighten political differences,” Danby told The Associated Press. “It’s beneath him, and it goes to the question of his judgment. I think a lot of his backbench will be groaning and tearing their hair out.”
Abbot withdrew the comment and apologized for making the comparison.
The comment comes more than a month after Abbott was forced to issue an apology for describing a cut in defense jobs as a “holocaust of jobs.”
A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren
We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.
With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.
— Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief
