Government slams Advance after antisemitism envoy's husband's donation
But Burke defended Segal, a lawyer and businesswoman with a long career of high-profile roles, saying that claims she should be held responsible for her husband's actions were outdated and misogynistic.
Australian Electoral Commission donation records lodged on behalf of a trust called Henroth, which is named for the father of Segal's husband John Roth, show it gave $50,000 to Advance – formerly Advance Australia – in 2023-24, making it one of the group's largest donors.
'Advance is an appalling organisation, and those who fund it are not acting in the cause of social cohesion,' Burke said. 'But another of the forms of bigotry that we are fighting is misogyny, and there is no way I am going back to the 1950s and blaming a woman for the actions of her husband.'
Segal distanced herself from the donation on Sunday, saying she had no involvement. 'No one would tolerate or accept my husband dictating my politics, and I certainly won't dictate his,' Segal said in a brief statement. 'I have had no involvement in his donations, nor will I.'
This masthead does not suggest otherwise. Segal delivered a plan last week to tackle rising antisemitism in Australia, which called for widespread education on the issue, monitoring of media reporting and funding cuts to organisations that fail to tackle hatred of Jews.
In media interviews, Segal described it as a good-faith proposal to advance social cohesion.
Advance, a conservative campaigning group, has previously accused left-leaning politicians of being 'mostly on the same side as Hamas' and compared Labor to the Chinese Communist Party while advertising against the Voice to parliament referendum and immigration.
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