NSW Premier Chris Minns has slammed one of his own MPs for a “reprehensible” speech in which he labelled Police Commissioner Karen Webb a “liar” over the behaviour of officers at pro-Palestinian protests.
On Tuesday night, Anthony D’Adam, an upper house Labor MP and parliamentary secretary who has been an outspoken advocate for Palestine, gave a speech criticising the conduct of police at a rally in Sydney in March in which three people were arrested.
D’Adam used a late night speech in parliament to criticise the conduct of officers, and in particular Webb’s previous defence of police conduct at the protests. D’Adam also labelled the war in Gaza a “genocide”.
NSW Labor MLC Anthony D’Adam.
“The approach of the public order and riot squad at many Palestine protests makes a liar of the commissioner,” he said.
“It used fear and intimidation as a means of obtaining compliance. We will not be intimidated, especially when we are trying to stop a genocide.”
D’Adam and Minns have repeatedly clashed since Labor came to government over the former’s comments over Palestine.
He has been an outspoken critic both of Israel, and of the federal government’s position on the conflict and has previously said Israeli Prime Mnister Benjamin Netanyahu was responsible for killing “thousands of innocent children”.
The premier has described D’Adam as “deliberately inflammatory” but has avoided sacking him from his position as a parliamentary secretary because he believes that is what the MP wants. But responding to the comments on Wednesday, Minns labelled his comments about Webb “reprehensible”.
“Being a NSW Police officer in the most difficult circumstances imaginable, particularly right now, is far harder than issuing a speech in the middle of the night [in Parliament],” Minns said.
“I thought his comments were absolutely reprehensible. I completely disassociate myself from them and I want to make this point; we don’t want to make a martyr of anyone in this set of circumstances and I thought that the comments from the member were completely outrageous.”