Josh Burns (politician)

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Josh Burns
MP
Member of the Australian Parliament for Macnamara
Assumed office
18 May 2019
Preceded byNew seat
Personal details
Born
Joshua Solomon Burns

(1987-02-06) 6 February 1987 (age 37)
Caulfield, Victoria, Australia
Political partyLabor
Websitejoshburns.com.au

Joshua Solomon Burns (born 6 February 1987) is an Australian politician. Representing the Australian Labor Party, he was elected as the member for the division of Macnamara in Melbourne at the 2019 Australian federal election.

Early life[edit]

Burns was born and raised in Caulfield, Victoria, a Melbourne suburb that is in his electorate. His maternal grandmother came to Australia as a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany. His paternal grandfather was born in London and came to Australia via Israel, while his paternal grandmother was born in Scotland.[1] He was educated at Gardenvale Primary School and Mt Scopus Memorial College. He then went to Monash University, where he studied politics.[2] As a young man Burns was Chair of the Melbourne SKIF; the youth wing of the Australian Jewish Labour Bund.

Burns worked in a number of jobs prior to his election to parliament.[3] He was a staffer for Labor federal MP Michael Danby, and from 2014 to 2019 worked as a senior adviser to the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews.[4]

Politics[edit]

Burns ran as the Labor candidate for the seat of Caulfield in the 2014 Victorian state election and gained a 4.9% swing against Liberal incumbent David Southwick.[5]

At the 2019 federal election, Burns contested the new seat of Macnamara, whose boundaries were almost identical to Melbourne Ports, following the retirement of Michael Danby, who had been the MP for Melbourne Ports since 1998.

Burns was preselected as the Labor candidate for the seat in 2018. The preselection process was controversial, with a number of members claiming that Danby invited only a fraction of the members of the branch. The unsuccessful candidate, Mary Delahunty accused the branch of working against her because she was the only woman and only non Jewish person running for preselection.[6]

The election was considered to be a three-cornered contest as both the Liberal Party and the Greens viewed themselves as a realistic chance of winning the seat from Labor.[7] At the election Burns increased Labor's primary vote and won the seat with a two-party-preferred swing of 5.04% in his favour, against Liberal candidate Kate Ashmor.[8]

Burns serves as a member of the Parliament's Joint Statutory Committee on Human Rights and on the House of Representatives Standing Committees on Environment and Energy and Communications and the Arts.[9]

In 2020, Victorian state MLC Adem Somyurek was expelled from the Labor Party after accusations of branch stacking, Somyurek claimed that Burns was among those Labor MPs who "offer him fealty and can expect his protection in return."[10] Burns denied the claim and there was no record of Burns being involved in Somyurek's schemes.[11]

Positions[edit]

Burns has been an outspoken advocate for strong climate action within the Labor caucus,[12] and has criticised Labor colleague Joel Fitzgibbon for urging Labor to be less ambitious on climate action.[13]

Burns has also been an outspoken advocate for refugees, moving a motion in Parliament urging the Federal Parliament to free refugees being held in onshore and offshore detention.[14]

Burns has called for Australia to significantly increase its supply of public and social housing, and enshrine housing as a human right, in a research paper published with The McKell Institute.[15]

In 2021, Burns called for the date of Australia Day to change, arguing it was a divisive date given it marks the beginning of atrocities committed against Indigenous Australians. Burns called for the date to be changed following the implementation of an Indigenous reconciliation and recognition referendum and an Australian republic referendum.[16]

Jewish and Israel issues[edit]

Burns supports the working definition of antisemitism developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). In 2022 he became one of the inaugural co-chairs of the Parliament Friends of IHRA working group, along with Julian Leeser and Allegra Spender.[17] The following year he moved a motion in the House of Representatives reaffirming the chamber's commitment to the IHRA definition and criticising the Greens for their failure to support the definition.[18]

Burns supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and has stated that he "desperately want[s] to see a peace agreement signed between the Israelis and the Palestinians" in his lifetime.[19] In October 2022, he publicly criticised the Albanese government for its decision to revoke Australia's recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel. He stated the government had rushed into changing its position and that he was "hurt" by the decision.[20] He supports the retention of the Western Wall within Israel.[21]

Following the October 7 attack in 2023 and the resulting Israel–Hamas war, Burns stated that antisemitism in Australia was "certainly the worst in my lifetime",[22] later stating that "this has been probably the most difficult period that I can think of in my lifetime to be a Jewish person in Australia".[19] During the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, he was reportedly the first Labor MP to publicly call for police intervention in the protests.[23]

Burns visited Israel in December 2023 as part of a cross-party delegation sponsored by AIJAC. He opposed an immediate ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war on the grounds that it would give Hamas time to regroup. He also opposed the Albanese government's decision to vote in favour of United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/22, stating that "it doesn't matter how many resolutions the United Nations passes: the only way out of this terrible situation is for the hostages to be released and for Hamas to be removed from power in Gaza".[24]

Personal life[edit]

Burns has a daughter.[25]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "First Speech: Mr Josh Burns MP". Parliament of Australia. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Josh Burns". www.joshburns.com.au. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Josh Burns Profile". Australian Labor Party website.
  4. ^ Kellett, Andrea (20 January 2014). "Danby staffer Josh Burns to contest safe Liberal seat of Caulfield". Herald Sun. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Caulfield – Victorian Election 2014 – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Heraldsun.com.au | Subscribe to the Herald Sun for exclusive stories". Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  7. ^ Towell, Noel (16 April 2019). "With Labor veteran gone, three-way Macnamara fight too close to call". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  8. ^ Australian Electoral Commission (11 June 2019). "Macnamara, VIC". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Josh Burns MP - Parliamentary Biography". Australian Parliament House website.
  10. ^ Tozer, Nick McKenzie, Sumeyya Ilanbey, Joel (15 June 2020). "'F**k the premier': Labor's secret tapes reveal industrial scale stackathon". The Age. Retrieved 1 December 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ McCullogh, Daniel (16 June 2020). "Labor heavyweights to 'clean up' Victorian branch after stacking saga". AAP.
  12. ^ Brown, Greg. "Labor MPs urge Anthony Albanese to be climate ambitious". The Australian.
  13. ^ Harris, Rob. "The Age". Labor MPs round on Joel Fitzgibbon as climate spat turns nasty.
  14. ^ "Parliament motion calls for the release of people seeking asylum and refugees from detention". Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. 23 June 2021.
  15. ^ Sakkal, Paul. "Calls for human right to shelter in Australia". The Age.
  16. ^ Burns, Josh. "Australia Day: Don't change the date, create the date". The Age.
  17. ^ Narunsky, Gareth (3 November 2022). "Parliamentary Friends of IHRA officially launched in Canberra". Australian Jewish News. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  18. ^ Narunsky, Garuth (9 March 2023). "Josh Burns slams Greens for opposing IHRA". Australian Jewish News. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  19. ^ a b "Politics with Michelle Grattan: Josh Burns on being a Jewish MP during a terrible conflict". The Conversation. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  20. ^ Brown, Andrew; Mitchell, Alex (19 October 2022). "Labor MP 'hurt' by Jerusalem reversal". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  21. ^ Narunsky, Gareth (9 August 2023). "'Occupied Palestinian Territory'". Australian Jewish News. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  22. ^ Ransley, Ellen (16 November 2023). "Josh Burns, Julian Leeser say anti-Semitism at all-time high". news.com.au. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  23. ^ Sakkal, Paul; Crowe, Alex (8 May 2024). "University orders removal of 'Zionist not welcome' signs as protests escalate". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  24. ^ Knott, Matthew (14 December 2023). "'Wishful thinking': Labor MP says UN resolution will not end war in Gaza". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  25. ^ Commonwealth Parliament Parliament House (22 July 2019). "First Speech: Mr Josh Burns MP". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 9 May 2024.

External links[edit]

Parliament of Australia
Division created Member for Macnamara
2019–present 		Incumbent
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