Labor Moves to Crack Down on Anti-Semitism Internally, Threatens Expulsion for Members

A Labor assistant minister said anyone espousing anti-Semitic views would be expelled from the party and encouraged members to report alleged behaviour.

The father (L) of 10-year-old victim Matilda, greeted on stage as he lights the eight candle of a menorah on Dec. 21, 2025. Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images

The Labor Party has announced it will not tolerate anti-Semitic behaviour within its ranks, warning members could face expulsion.

This follows widespread media reports of a letter from the Labor Israel Action Committee (LIAC) to the New South Wales (NSW) leadership, which claimed that anti-Semitic attitudes had become pervasive among parts of the party’s membership.

The letter also urged Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns to confront the issue, warning of a “rising tide of anti-Semitism” and alleging that “extremely hateful language” is frequently used at Labor branch meetings.

In response, Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said Labor “would not tolerate” such behaviour, and encouraged party members to report anyone espousing anti-Semitism so that investigations could be launched as soon as possible.

“The penalties within our party for any form of anti-Semitism or racism include expulsion, and we will not hesitate to act to ensure that anyone who expresses anti-Semitic views is expelled from our party,” he told reporters.

At the same time, Thistlethwaite said the government will support the Jewish community following the Bondi shooting, which killed 15 people, by acting on recommendations from the Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism Jillian Segal.

“We owe it to Australia’s Jewish community to act now, to keep them safe and to put in place measures to ensure they are free to practise their religion and their faith in Australia in safety,” he said.

Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 28, 2021. AAP Image/Brendon Thorne

Meanwhile, Shadow Attorney-General Andrew Wallace described the letter as deeply concerning.

“Equally concerning to the anti-Semitism within Labor ranks is Prime Minister Albanese’s failure to stamp it out,” he said.

Wallace also noted that Jewish Australians had increasingly felt abandoned since the attack of Oct. 7, 2023, as the Albanese government’s policies depart from decades of bipartisan support for Israel, including its unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood in September 2025.

“These decisions are now being exposed not merely as bad foreign policy, but as political gestures aimed at appeasing bigoted elements within Labor’s own ranks. It is increasingly clear that Labor’s problem goes well beyond mere criticism of Israel,” he said in a statement.

Concerns About Former Labor Minister’s Comments

In addition, the shadow attorney-general raised concerns about comments by former Labor federal minister and NSW Premier Bob Carr cited in the letter, which described the Australian Israel–Jewish lobby as a “foreign influence operation.”

“This paints a troubling picture: a government slow to act against anti-Semitism, reluctant to confront it within its own ranks, and repeatedly dismissive of the concerns of a community living in grief and fear,” he said.

During an interview with the OnePath Network—a Sydney-based non-profit Australian Islamic media production studio—in August 2025, Carr said the lobby was designed to put the interests of Israel above the that of Australia.

“And no one else has an operation as well funded. No one else, no other country, has an operation with offices in every Australian capital city. No one else organises donations to attempt to elevate its influence in the way the Jewish lobby does in Australia,” he said.

Carr also recalled an incident when he had visited the United States as part of “a group ... considered to be supporters of Israel.”

At the time, a member of the Jewish lobby in Washington told his group that if any member of the U.S. Congress or the Senate expressed views critical of Israel or sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, “someone will be funded by supporters of Israel to run against them in the next primary.”

“This is how they operate. It’s a distortion of democracy, because instead of considering our foreign policy priorities and interests, we’re swayed to take account of the desires of the Jewish community,” he said.

Former NSW Premiere Bob Carr arrives at the Sydney Opera House with wife Helena Carr in Sydney, Australia, on June 14, 2019. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Multiple Critics of Israel Within Labor Ranks

Carr is not the only Labor figure to have taken aim at Israel and its lobby activities in Australia. Other Labor MPs and senators have also gone on record criticising the country in the past.

In February 2022, Senate President Sue Lines accused Israel of the “crime of apartheid” in a parliamentary speech, sparking debate about its appropriateness.

At the time, Foreign Minister Penny Wong who was the shadow minister, said Lines’ comments did not reflect Labor’s position.

In February 2024, Assistant Climate Change Minister Josh Wilson told Parliament he found Israel’s bombardment of Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack “unconscionable” and “unacceptable.”

“Every country has the right and obligation to defend its citizens, but not every military action constitutes self-defence. The wholesale destruction of Gaza is not self-defence,” he said.

In May 2025, Muslim Labor MP Ed Husic, who previously held the industry portfolio, lamented in an opinion piece in The Guardian that Australia had not joined the UK, France and Canada in taking a stronger stand against Israel’s aid blockade.

Three months later, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke condemned the tactics deployed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza while defending his department’s decision to deny right-wing Israeli politician Simcha Rothman entry to Australia.

“Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,” he said.