Overview
- Sussan Ley used a pre–question time speech to demand Anthony Albanese apologise for wearing a Joy Division T‑shirt, calling it a profound failure of judgment and citing the band name’s Holocaust-era origins.
- Reports noted Albanese had acknowledged the name’s dark history in a 2022 podcast, which Ley cited to argue he could not claim ignorance.
- The Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Zionist Federation of Australia declined to comment, and other Jewish figures offered no public endorsement of Ley’s criticism.
- Coalition figures split on the attack, with Nationals Bridget McKenzie and Matt Canavan downplaying the issue, Liberal Andrew Bragg expressing concern, and Liberal MPs questioning Ley’s political judgment as media questions derailed other opposition messages.
- Albanese, traveling for regional meetings, defended the shirt as a fan’s nod to a classic album and has not issued an apology, while commentators framed the episode as a media-driven distraction from policy debates.