An art exhibition naming children killed in Gaza has sparked a bitter dispute in Western Australia's parliament, culminating in a Nationals MP being suspended for four days after he described the event as antisemitic.
On Tuesday, the 'Wall of Tears' by American artist Phil Buehler, which lists the names of more than 18,000 children killed in Gaza since October 2023, was displayed in the parliament courtyard.
During a debate in parliament the next day, the Nationals' Lachlan Hunter said Greens MP Sophie McNeill, who co-hosted the event, then went into the legislative council and made comments to "vilify" WA's Jewish community by describing it as showing the names of children killed in a "genocide".
After clashing with the deputy speaker on a number of points during his speech, Mr Hunter argued with her about whether his comments were relevant to the debate, which was about essential services for vulnerable people.
As a result of this defiance, the legislative assembly voted to suspend Mr Hunter on Thursday morning.
"The member's response went beyond mere noncompliance," Speaker Stephen Price said.
"He effectively challenged the Deputy Speaker to remove him from the chamber."
Liberal and Nationals MPs, as well as independent Jonathan Huston, voted against the measure.
Later in the day, the opposition attempted to have Mr Hunter's suspension overturned, but failed.
Controversial display
Speaking outside parliament after his suspension, the Central Wheatbelt MP accused the Speaker, a Labor MP who is appointed to the role to oversee the lower house, of playing politics.
"Labor used their absolute majority to shut down a member of the opposition for standing up and speaking for vulnerable Western Australians," Mr Hunter said.
"Antisemitism … actually occurred in the courtyard of the parliament on Tuesday evening," he added.
Mr Hunter initially said the event had become political and antisemitic when Ms McNeill spoke about it in the chamber — a speech that Jewish Liberal MP Simon Ehrenfeld also took issue with that evening.
Earlier, Mr Hunter said the art event had become political and antisemitic after Greens MP Sophie McNeill spoke in the legislative council about the children named in the artwork as being killed in a "genocide".
Jewish Liberal MP Simon Ehrenfeld also took issue with her comments immediately after they were made.
He said the event was a "propaganda piece used against Israel".
"If you had 100 of those walls, you wouldn't even begin to touch what was genocide in our history," Mr Ehrenfeld said.
A United Nations commission of inquiry has concluded Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has denied the accusations, labelling the UN report "distorted and false" and calling for the inquiry's abolition.
'All lives mourned'
The co-convener of the Parliamentary Friends group which hosted the exhibition, Labor backbencher Dave Kelly, said the event had been organised to "highlight the horrific number of children killed in Gaza".
"All lives lost during this conflict were mourned at the event," he said.
The art exhibition was supported by Perth Doctors Medical Aid for Palestine, a group that an email to MPs described as a "non-partisan group of WA health workers who have been raising funds for humanitarian relief in Gaza".
Images posted to social media by the group's other co-convener, Ms McNeill, show Labor MPs Colleen Egan, Dan Bull, Klara Andric and Ayor Makur Chuot in attendance, as well as former Labor minister Alannah MacTiernan.
Mr Hunter claimed the group was made up of "activists who seek to preach hate against a very vulnerable part of our community".
"If you Google what they believe in, if you Google the rallies they've been to, if you Google every single thing that the Greens in Western Australia and right across this nation believe in, it is all antisemitic," Mr Hunter said.
The ABC understands Ms McNeill and Perth Doctors Medical Aid for Palestine are seeking legal advice about commencing defamation proceedings over Mr Hunter's comments.
Ms McNeill described him as a "gutless coward" and said Australia's highest courts had ruled that criticising Israel was not antisemitic.
"Our event was all about the horrors of war. It was hosted by doctors who've worked in Gaza, Palestinians there who've had their family members killed in Gaza," she said.
"We honoured the deaths on both sides of this conflict."
Focus 'humanitarian, not political'
On Thursday evening, Perth Doctors Medical Aid for Palestine released a statement, saying it opposed all forms of racism.
"From the outset, our focus has been humanitarian, not political … We are against all forms of racism and religious discrimination," the statement read.
"We believe that advocating for vulnerable Palestinian children killed in war is not and never will be antisemitic.
"We cannot advocate for the protection of children if we allow their suffering to remain distant or invisible — The Wall of Tears reduces any abstractions to a simple fact: too many children have died."
The organisation said it had worked with Israeli doctors and lawyers from human rights group Physicians for Human Rights Israel, and welcomed Mr Hunter to attend future events and speak with Perth Doctors Medical Aid for Palestine members about their work.
Premier says MP 'disrespectful'
Premier Roger Cook supported Mr Hunter's suspension, saying the decision had "nothing to do with the subject matter he raised".
"What he chose to do was simply to run loose with the rules of the chamber … he was talking over, being disrespectful and rude, and there are rules around that."
Before Mr Hunter's suspension, Nationals leader Shane Love said he had not counselled the MP over his behaviour.
"I think he was making a forceful point about something that he had a great deal of personal concern over," he said.
"It's up to the chair to control the chamber."
Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas said it was a "legitimate question to ask what were the procedures and protocols that were followed for that event to be organised".
