Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Late last year, following the firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, the member for Tangney, Sam Lim, became the centre of controversy. A WhatsApp message from Mr Lim to a local community group contained comments attributed to the Prime Minister. The message read:

Mr Netanyahu should consider that the bombing of a synagogue in Australia is likely the manifestation of a few despondent radicals who had had enough of the continued aerial bombing of thousands of innocent children and women in Gaza by his single-minded troops. Australia is a robust democracy. We do not encourage violence to those whom we do not warm to. If he continues to blame me and other world leaders, he might well be remembered in history as another hegemon who blamed everyone else for his crime against innocent civilians.

These disgraceful, divisive and apologist remarks sparked outrage among community leaders and rightly so. The Prime Minister's Office categorically denied the quote was genuine, and Mr Lim's office later claimed the quote was fake. But that raises even more questions. Who authored the message? How was it sent under Mr Lim's name? If his phone was truly compromised, as Mr Lim has claimed, has it been reported to the Australian Federal Police and Department of Parliamentary Services? As reported by the West Australian, a letter sent to Mr Lim's office by the Australian Jewish Association chief executive, Robert Gregory, said:

"Your explanation, first blaming someone in Brisbane and then claiming your phone was compromised, raises serious questions …

"Both propositions cannot be true simultaneously. Such discrepancies demand clarification, as they erode trust in your ability to take responsibility for your own communications.

"As a Federal Member of Parliament, you have taxpayer-funded staff and resources to manage your public communications. Despite this, these hateful words have made their way into the public domain, under your name, and the consequences have been damaging.

Even more troubling is the Prime Minister's silence. There's no explanation for how a parliamentarian's secure government issued phone was supposedly compromised. If true, this raises serious national security concerns. If false, it's an attempt by an elected representative to mislead the public. There's no action to investigate if this was a case of misinformation or deliberate disinformation. This is coming from the very same government who wants sweeping misinformation laws. But when it comes to one of their own, they don't seem to care. There's no accountability for a Labor MP spreading inflammatory and hurtful rhetoric. If the Prime Minister won't even apologise for such horrendous comments, it's clear that this government sees the Jewish community as second-class citizens. There's no leadership in addressing the Jewish community's concerns and no response to my letter asking for answers. If there's nothing to hide, why the silence?

At the very least, regardless of who sent the message or how it was sent, the fact remains that a deeply offensive and dangerous message was sent from Mr Lim's phone or his WhatsApp account. The right thing to do here is clear. Mr Lim and Mr Albanese must apologise. Regardless of the origin of the text—and doubts remain over the origin of these, and they should be addressed by Mr Lim's transparency—a very hurtful message was sent under his name at a time when the Jewish community and the nation as a whole were still reeling from the attack on the Adass Israel synagogue. He should have the courage to apologise for the pain caused. The Jewish community, Tangney residents and Western Australia deserve it. In any other state, this kind of dodgy behaviour by an elected official wouldn't be ignored. But this is classic Labor when it comes to Western Australia. They systemically ignore concerns, dodge accountability, promise change at election time and hope no-one notices their incompetence. This is not an isolated incident; it's a pattern. Every Western Australian representative, including from Labor, has a duty to hold the Prime Minister accountable for WA's fair treatment and for honesty and transparency in government. In Mr Lim's first speech, he said it was his dream to unite people in harmony and peace, regardless of race, language or religion. By his actions, he tells a very different story. (Time expired)