Albanese critical of council boycott

Federal member for Grayndler, Anthony Albanese, has drawn the ire of Marrickville Mayor Fiona Byrne, who has defended her council’s decision to support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) towards Israel as a result of their military occupation of Palestine.

Marrickville Council’s position was adopted at the December ordinary meeting in a 10-2 vote which included the support of all Green and Labor councillors. However, it was criticised this month by Mr Albanese, whose electorate of Grayndler encompasses the Marrickville Local Government Area. In an article for The Australian newspaper, he described the policy as, “unfortunate and misguided at best”, and said it would prove “clumsy and counterproductive”.

“It’s a simplistic resolution to a complex problem,” Mr Albanese told the Independent. “After more than a month, the council still hasn’t got in touch with me [as the resolution said they would], so one wonders how serious it is – but beyond that, one wonders how it will work in practice. How is the council going to determine which goods are made in Israel?

“The Palestinians will not be assisted by this frankly self-indulgent behaviour.”

Mr Albanese’s comments were echoed by his wife Carmel Tebbutt, the state Labor member for Marrickville. “While Marrickville Council generally do a fantastic job, I don’t see how a local government authority is actually going to implement a boycott of Israeli products or companies and organisations with links to Israel,” she said in a statement. “Residents in Marrickville would be better served by a council who dealt with issues closer to home.”

But Ms Byrne, who is running against Ms Tebbutt as the Greens candidate for Marrickville in the state election, hit back against the criticism from the Labor heavyweights.

“These comments, while perhaps holding the party line, are contradictory to the resolve of the local Labor councillors, are out of step with the community view that Marrickville should speak out against injustice no matter where it occurs, and demonstrate a lack of understanding of how BDS is both relevant and applicable at a local government level,” she said.

“We have spoken with many local residents, with community and multi-faith groups who have told us of their feelings towards the unresolved issue of Palestine and Israel and their desire to be able to take direct action.”

The BDS campaign is also supported by a number of union bodies, including the NSW branches of the Australian Services Union and the CFMEU.