“Not Australian way”: Anthony Albanese condemns vandalism of US consulate in Sydney by pro-Palestinian protestors

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack on the US consulate in Sydney by the pro-Palestinian protestors and said that such acts are “not the Australian way,” Al Jazeera reported.

The incident happened on Monday (local time) when a mob attacked the US consulate with a sledgehammer and defaced it with pro-Palestinian graffiti.

“The Middle East conflict is a difficult issue. It is complex. It certainly needs some nuance and isn’t a matter of just sloganeering,” Albanese said at a news conference in Canberra while urging the protestors to “turn the heat down.”

“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 said.

The security camera footage showed a hooded figure with his or her face obscured smashing windows at the consulate at about 3 am (local time) on Monday, Al Jazeera reported citing the police.

The consulate’s coat of arms was also spray-painted over with two red inverted triangles, which are used by some protesters to symbolise Palestinian resistance.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns also condemned the incident and described it as “reprehensible.”

“It’s an indication of a kind of coarsening of the public debate that no one needs in Australia,” Minns said. “This kind of behaviour will be investigated and punished by NSW police.”

Earlier in April, the consulate was vandalised with the words “Free Gaza”, while the US consulate in Melbourne was spray-painted in a similar incident last month.

Australia is a close ally of Israel but has become increasingly critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza in recent months, as reported by Al Jazeera.

In April, Albanese condemned Israel’s explanation for the killing of Australian woman Zomi Frankcom and six other aid workers in an air strike in central Gaza as “not good enough”.