Georgie Purcell faces antisemitic, misogynistic abuse due to Jewish partner, commission hears

Labor MP Josh Burns has told a royal commission that his partner, Georgie Purcell, is subjected to intensified abuse due to her relationship with him, who is Jewish. Burns described the attacks on Purcell as being compounded by misogyny and sexualized commentary, providing examples of vile messages received by his partner, including after the birth of their child.

Burns also detailed the impact of antisemitism on his staff, noting over 1,000 phone calls and 10,000 abusive social media messages to his office, alongside vandalism. He emphasized the difficulty of seeing a loved one abused and called for better online safety measures from social media platforms.

Tahli Blicblau, CEO of The Dor Foundation, testified that individuals who gave evidence to the commission about their experiences with antisemitism were subsequently targeted with more hate online, regardless of whether they used pseudonyms. She presented 275 examples of such posts, which included calls for violence, dehumanizing language, and Holocaust glorification.

Research presented to the commission by Dr. Matteo Vergani of Deakin University's Tackling Hate Lab indicated that hateful content targeting Jews saw an increase after the October 7 Hamas attack and has remained elevated. The research also found that online hate is often triggered by offline incidents, with both anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate spiking after major events. Vergani suggested that cost-effective methods exist to track and prevent hate without resorting to censorship.