Labor MP Apologises For Father’s Homophobic Insults To Liberal Volunteer

Labor MP Jerome Laxale has apologised after his father made homophobic remarks to a Liberal party volunteer.

The incident was captured on film on Wednesday at a Bennelong voting booth, with Laxale’s father Alain asking a man handing out Liberal pamphlets, “How’s your boyfriend?”

The volunteer replied with “I’m not gay, buddy.”

Alain then asked, “How’s your bum? How’s your bum, sore today?”

The shocked volunteer responded, “Excuse me?”

The exchange was captured from multiple angles, and has been seen by major news outlets.

The comments came after Liberal volunteers held up signs referencing allegations made in 2022 about Jerome Laxale keeping intimate photos of a woman. Laxale has denied any wrongdoing, and there has been no suggestion he had shared the images.

The member for Bennelong responded to the incident quickly, with a statement to the media in which he said: “I love my Dad, but the things he said were deeply offensive and completely unacceptable. He should not have said them. I’ve spoken to him and he regrets them, and apologises unreservedly.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked this morning whether he would speak to Laxale’s father about the comments, to which he replied that he wants to “keep families out of it.”

“I don’t talk about people’s family. I don’t like people talking about mine. I don’t talk about others. I don’t talk about Peter Dutton’s family.”

When a second journalist asked if he condemned homophobic comments, Albanese snapped, saying, “It’s beneath you, beneath you to ask whether I support homophobic comment, because of course I don’t.”

AEC issue warning on voting centre behaviour

Electoral commissioner Jeff Pope has reminded people to remain cordial and respectful when voting.

“The AEC is not a police force and does not have jurisdiction to undertake conflict resolution or get in the middle of a dispute outside our polling places,” said Pope.

“However, we do have close relationships with local police forces around the country who are closely monitoring activities.”

Police are monitoring polling places for any further acts of violence or aggression.

Police were called to an early voting centre at Ashfield Town Hall in the electorate of Grayndler following reports of an assault on April 23, only days into prepolling.

A 79-year-old man wearing a Make America Great Again cap was said to have become aggressive towards a volunteer handing out how-to-vote cards when he was asked not to deface an Albanese corflute he’d approached.

The man was then allegedly punched by a 17-year-old boy, who had been standing across the street before witnessing the altercation.

The boy was arrested and was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, appearing at a children’s court the next morning.