'A cowardly and hateful attack': Frydenberg poster defaced with Hitler references

Campaign posters for Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg have been defaced with Hitler grafitti.

Two of the vandalised posters.

Two of the vandalised posters. Source: Supplied

Days after federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg handed down his first budget, campaign posters located in his Melbourne seat of Kooyong have been vandalised with Hitler references and devil horns.

The graffiti features numerous Hitler moustaches and one reportedly had "Right Wing Fascist" scrawled across his forehead.

In a statement, the treasurer said that vandalism was unacceptable - no matter one's political position.

"It's one thing for these cowards to graffiti a sign, but it's another thing altogether to invoke the horrors of the Holocaust and the evils of Hitler and the Nazis," he said.

"These people should be ashamed of themselves."

Mr Frydenberg is one of Australia's highest profile Jewish MPs.

Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission - a Jewish community group - slammed the graffiti labelling it a "cowardly and hateful attack on our democracy and on our values". 

"It is sicking and chilling that seven decades after the Holocaust Jewish members of our community continue to be targeted by vilification and Nazi imagery," he said.

"We stand firmly with Josh Frydenberg and hope that those who perpetrated these crimes are swiftly apprehended and are brought to justice."

Both of Mr Frydenberg's parents are Jewish. His mother, Erica Strausz, arrived in Australia in 1950 via a refugee camp, after fleeing Hungary during the Holocaust. 


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By Maani Truu


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