Australia PM condemns graffiti attack on US consulate in Sydney
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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said people should have respectful political debate and discourse.
PHOTO: REUTERS
SYDNEY – Australian Prime Minster Anthony Albanese on June 10 condemned vandalism of the US consulate in Sydney after the building was defaced in what local media said appeared to be a pro-Palestinian protest.
The building in the northern suburbs of Australia’s largest city was attacked and sprayed with paint by a person carrying a small sledgehammer at around 3am local time on June 10.
“I would just say that people should have respectful political debate and discourse,” Mr Albanese said in a televised media conference from Canberra when asked about the incident.
“Measures such as painting the US consulate do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is of course a crime to damage property,” he added.
Nine windows of the consulate were damaged and the building’s door was graffitied, police said.
“CCTV (closed-circuit television) has been sourced that shows a person wearing a dark-coloured hoodie with their face obscured carrying what appears to be a small sledgehammer,” a police spokesperson told Reuters by phone.
A spokesperson for the US consulate confirmed the building had been damaged, but said staff and operations were unaffected.
“Australian Federal Police and New South Wales Police are investigating the incident,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Photos of the consulate on the website of The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper showed inverted red triangles sprayed on the building’s front. The symbol is used by some pro-Palestinian activists, it reported.
The same building was sprayed with graffiti in April, while the US consulate in Melbourne was graffitied by pro-Palestine activists in May, according to the newspaper.
Long a stalwart ally of Israel, Australia has become increasingly critical of its conduct in Gaza, where an Australian aid worker was killed in an Israeli attack
In May, camps sprang up at universities
