Melissa Parke to sue Sharma, Rubenstein and Herald Sun
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, former Federal Labor Member for Fremantle Melissa Parke has begun defamation proceedings against Liberal federal MP Dave Sharma and Dr Colin Rubenstein, executive director of The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council and Melbourne paper Herald Sun.
Melissa Parke
According to the SMH “Melissa Parke has launched defamation proceedings against Liberal MP Dave Sharma over a tweet accusing her of antisemitism and ‘trafficking in conspiracy theories'”.
Dr Colin Rubenstein and the Herald Sun have been accused of calling Parke an anti-semite.
Both Dave Sharma and Dr Colin Rubenstein declined to comment other than to say they have not been served with any legal papers at this stage.
The SMH reported that the claims were lodged in a South Australia court on Wednesday.
In April last year, Dave Sharma tweeted “Remarks? I think antisemitism and trafficking in conspiracy theories amounts to a bit more than mere ‘remarks'”.
Melissa Parke had been critical of Israel and said last year” “It is not wrong to say the Israel lobby has excessive influence in the Australian political system assisted by powerful media operators. Look at how I was removed from the election campaign.”
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry asked Melissa Parke to apologise for her statement.
