Georgie Purcell facing antisemitic and misogynistic abuse due to having Jewish partner, commission hears

Labor MP Josh Burns with his partner, Georgie Purcell, photographed in 2025. The couple receive anti-Jewish hate, Burns told the antisemitism royal commission. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Labor MP Josh Burns with his partner, Georgie Purcell, photographed in 2025. The couple receive anti-Jewish hate, Burns told the antisemitism royal commission. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/The Guardian Georgie Purcell facing antisemitic and misogynistic abuse due to having Jewish partner, commission hears The royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion is hearing evidence about hateful speech in the online environment Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Vile, threatening abuse is being levelled at witnesses to the antisemitism inquiry, while a Labor MP says attacks on his partner are heightened because they are stacked with misogyny. Meanwhile, data analysis has shown how quickly factual reports are transformed into conspiracy theories online, and that while there was a spike in antisemitism after the Bondi terror attack, there was a “huge spike” in anti-Muslim hate. The royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion is hearing evidence of “the dissemination of antisemitic content and other forms of hateful speech in the online environment, as well as antisemitism in traditional media and broadcasting”. On Tuesday, Labor MP Josh Burns told the inquiry while he and his office staff receive thousands of abusive messages, his partner, Victorian Animal Justice MP Georgie Purcell, is attacked because of her association with him. He is Jewish, she is not. He gave the commission examples of abuse directed at him, which included being called a “genocidal Zionist” and the suggestion an attack on his office was an inside job. Comments sent to Purcell included comments about her relationship with him such as: “You root a Zionist. You can’t be trusted.” “The language in the examples reveals how antisemitic abuse directed at Georgie is compounded by misogynistic, often violence and sexualised commentary – directed at her because she is a woman,” Burns wrote in his submission. Purcell also collated abusive comments sent after she gave birth to their daughter including: “Shut the fuck up. You got knocked up by a Zionist, you Nazi cunt.” He told the inquiry about the impact of antisemitism on his staff after his office was vandalised , and said there had been more than 1,000 phone calls and 10,000 abusive social media messages. He said “probably one of the hardest things” was to have someone you love get abused”. Burns said the Online Safety Act and the social media platforms needed better ways to deal with the attacks. “Instagram knows when I was looking for a new high chair for my six-month-old. They can do a better job of … making it a bit safer online,” he said. Tahli Blicblau is chief executive officer of The Dor Foundation, established to combat antisemitism and hate. She told the inq