NSW Shadow Treasurer and NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel deputy chair, Walt Secord has applauded the Federal Court decision to dismiss the Josh Frydenberg dual citizenship matter.
Last year in NSW Parliament, Mr Secord in a major speech said he felt the matter was “vicious”, “offensive” and “deeply rooted in antisemitism”.
This week, Mr Secord said: “it was a completely disgusting exercise and I am pleased that it has been brought to an end.”
“I’ve been to Yad Vashem four times and I believe that those who were pushing this filthy case knew exactly what they were doing and why it was so offensive.”
On Tuesday, March 17, the Federal Court of Australia ruled that Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was eligible to sit in national parliament after dismissing a dual citizenship challenge against him.
The challenge was made under Section 44 and lawyers pushing the matter claimed Frydenberg was a duel citizen by descent as his Holocaust survivor mother, Erica Strausz, was born in Hungary in 1943. She arrived in Australia as “stateless”.
This week, Mr Secord welcomed the Federal Court decision, saying he had always opposed those in Victorian Labor who were pushing case. He also supported those moves by Federal Labor MP for Macnamara Josh Burns to have them expelled from Labor.
“It is important to call out extremism and antisemitism whether it is in the Labor Party, the Liberals, the Nationals and any other political party,” Mr Secord said.
On August 6, Mr Secord told NSW Parliament: “Members would be aware that Josh Frydenberg’s mother, Erica Strausz, was born in Budapest during World War II. Her family spent time in the Budapest ghetto. She arrived in Australia on a ship in December 1950 at the age of seven after being in a refugee camp. His mother was made “stateless” by the Nazis and Hungarian collaborators for a sole reason: It was because she was Jewish. They robbed her of her citizenship. It is absolutely disgusting to claim that she had Hungarian citizenship when it was ripped away from her and her family during the Shoah. Josh Frydenberg has actually produced immigration entry documents from 1950 that describe his mother as “stateless”.
Could this decision be appealed in the High Court?