‘Anonymous Hoons’: Federal Minister’s Office Vandalised Amid the Middle East Conflict

The office was graffitied with the words ‘dial down the apartheid Bill.’

Victoria Police offices leave Bill Shorten's electoral office after it has been vandalised in Melbourne, Australia, on Nov. 23, 2023. AAP Image/Joel Carrett

Federal Minister Bill Shorten’s office has been vandalised with red paint and graffiti reading “dial down the apartheid Bill.”

Early in the morning, Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers discovered the vandalism at the Moonee Ponds electorate office.

“I found out this morning, overnight, some anonymous hoons graffitied the front of the office. Like at the end of the day, nobody got hurt, just clean it all off and be open for business,” Mr. Shorten said on 3AW radio.

“I mean it’s the same people that sewed together those fake body bags of dead babies and adults. It’s like, who sits up all night sewing together a fake dead body bag? If you feel strongly on an issue, graffitiing someone’s office at 4 o'clock in the morning you know really, what does that change.”

The latest incident follows activists leaving fake corpses and the words “no more bodies in Gaza, free Palestine and end the occupation” at the doorstep of several federal ministers’ offices, including Mr. Shorten, on Nov. 15.

Mr. Shorten thought the graffiti may be a reaction to comments he made on the radio calling for protesters to “dial down the aggro” following this incident.

“Obviously someone took offence at me saying we should promote social cohesion and dial down the aggro in the confrontation,” Mr. Shorten said.

Earlier in an interview with the Today Show, Mr. Shorten confirmed the graffiti was spotted by the AFP at 4:30 a.m. He described the incident as “crude vandalism.”

“The real issues are, of course, the dreadful scenes we’re seeing in Gaza and Israel. But I don’t know why people think that carrying on and escalating aggro in this country helps people in the Middle East, or indeed helps the case you’re trying to make in Australia,” Mr. Shorten said.

“It just turns people off. This is not the Australian way.”

Pro-Palestinian School Protest

The graffiti was found on the same day a School Strike for Palestine is being planned on the steps of Flinders Street Station in Melbourne.

Melbourne parent Stephen raised concerns the students are being used as “political pawns” to protest on an issue they do not understand.

At least 6,000 people signed a letter urging the Victorian Premier to take a tough stance on the issue and issue a clear directive to schools advising against the protest.

Similar school protests have taken place in global cities including New York City. For example, on Nov. 9, hundreds of New York City public school students staged a walkout demanding a ceasefire between Hamas and Gaza.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has said school is the best place to learn about global events and understand the world.

“If you are wanting to learn about global events, if you are wanting to understand the world we are living in, and some of the turmoil that we are seeing in the world, then school is the best place to get that learning and understanding of how to have respectful engagement with others in our community,” Ms. Allan said ahead of the event.

School Students for Palestine are walking out of class on Nov. 23 to demand an immediate end to the war on Gaza.

The students also want to see “Israel out of Gaza and the West Bank” and an end to “military aid” and support from Australia to Israel.

Members of the Australian Palestinian community hold placards as they sit on a jet ski during a protest at the Port Botany terminal in Sydney on Nov. 21, 2023.  DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images

Kids Should ‘Stay At School’

In Mr. Shorten’s view, the student should stay at school because the world needs more educated people.

“I think it’s best the kids stay at school frankly. I’ve been involved in strikes in the past as a union rep. I get the tactic. But the world needs people who are more educated, not missing school frankly. There’s enough people with loud voices,” Mr. Shorten said on radio.

“I am not sure that chucking a 13- or 14-year-old really is going to change [anything]. I mean, what does that achieve?”

Australian Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten speaks at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on March 29, 2022. Martin Ollman/Getty Images

Last week, coalition shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham expressed he was “deeply troubled” by the idea of the student protests.

“But schoolchildren really shouldn’t be dragged into sensitive activities and areas of, I think, great complexity in terms of how this conflict, its history, its origins, and ultimately, of course, the fact that some will seek to use them as voices.”

Federal Liberal education spokesperson Sarah Henderson echoed these views, saying the pro-Palestinian school protests pose a “real risk to student safety and community cohesion.”

“Tougher action is required from the Albanese government to ensure students stay in school and not attend pro-Palestinian protests which put at risk student safety and wellbeing,” she said.