The Jewish Council has condemned Opposition Leader Peter Dutton for picking up neo-Nazi talking points, after he said yesterday he did not believe Anzac Day dawn services warranted a Welcome to Country.

Dutton’s remarks followed the removal of prominent neo-Nazi Jacob Hersant from Melbourne’s Anzac Day dawn service on Friday, for heckling during a Bunurong elder’s Welcome to Country. A group of neo-nazis was reportedly present within the crowd.

This, combined with Dutton’s preference deal with Pauline Hanson’s One Nation — a party known for rampant racism — attacks on the media, universities and demonisation of migrants, including Palestinians fleeing genocide, has entrenched the Coalition’s slide into far-right Trumpist politics.

Dutton has disingenuously tried to position himself as a defender of Jewish Australians, yet his embrace of Trump-style culture war rhetoric tells a different story. Neo-Nazis and the far-right represent one of the greatest threats to the safety of all racialised groups, including Jews.

Sarah Schwartz, Executive Officer of the Jewish Council, said:

​’Peter Dutton cannot claim to stand against antisemitism while giving cover to neo-Nazis and aligning himself with racists. If he truly cared about Jewish safety, he wouldn’t be doing preference deals with One Nation and repeating lines that embolden the far right.’

Max Kaiser, Executive Officer of the Jewish Council, said:

'As Jewish Australians, we know that our safety is bound up with the safety of all oppressed peoples. We stand with First Nations people against Dutton’s race-baiting and culture war attacks.'