A US-based group has written to hundreds of local mayors and councillors in Australia offering all-inclusive travel and accommodation to attend a Gold Coast summit dedicated to addressing antisemitism.
At least one mayor has accepted the offer from the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), which would be funded by Australian companies and Jewish groups, while other councils are spending up to $6,500 to send multiple councillors to the conference, to be held from 3 to 5 September.
Guardian Australia spoke to dozens of councils, many of whom said they had declined to attend the conference or decided that accepting money to do so would be inappropriate.
The offer does not appear to breach any rules, but some councillors said it was surprising to have been directly offered financial assistance by a group that seeks to influence local government policy.
One councillor from a Melbourne LGA said the offer was “highly unusual”. Another from a different council said they had “never seen anything like it” in their five years as a councillor.
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But the mayor of Glen Eira in Melbourne, Simone Zmood, who is speaking at the event, will have costs paid for by the sponsors, which include Meriton Suites, Southern Steel and groups including the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
A council spokesperson said: “We believe it’s important for Glen Eira’s voice to be part of national conversations that condemn antisemitism and work to prevent all forms of racism and hatred.
“All travel and expenses will be appropriately disclosed.”
It is understood representatives from other councils have also accepted the offer.
Woollahra council in Sydney will spend $6,500 to send four councillors and the mayor, Sarah Swan, who will speak at the event without being paid.
The deputy mayor of Stonnington in Melbourne’s south-east, Tom Humphries, will attend but has also declined assistance. So, too, have Melbourne’s deputy lord mayor, Roshena Campbell, and councillor Rafael Camillo, whose costs of $4,160 will be covered by the council.
Robert Irlicht, a councillor in Melbourne’s Bayside, will attend but the council will not finance his costs. Irlicht was contacted for comment.
The chief executive of Transparency International Australia, Clancy Moore, said: “When mayors or councillors accept paid trips or hospitality from lobby groups with a view to influencing council policy, it can raise questions about impartiality and public trust.
“Even where no laws are broken, councils’ own codes of conduct or gifts and hospitality policies should also be followed.”
A coalition of leaders from the Australian Services Union, the advocacy group Democracy in Colour, the Jewish Council of Australia, Jewish Voices of Inner Sydney and Greens councillors have called for a boycott of the conference.
They claim the offer of financial assistance amounts to a “paid junket” from a group they accuse of conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism. They cite CAM’s push for all levels of government to adopt the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism.
The federal government’s antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, made the same recommendation in July, causing unease within federal Labor. Segal is a key speaker at the conference and will not be paid.
CAM has denied claims it conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. A spokesperson said those paying for travel were clearly listed and that assistance was offered to ensure councils could receive “practical tools to strengthen social cohesion, reduce hate and build more inclusive communities across the nation”.
“Bringing this global initiative to Australia is a recognition of the urgency we face here,” the spokesperson said, citing a spike in antisemitic attacks including the torching of synagogues.
The mayor of Sydney’s Inner West council, Darcy Byrne, has rejected pressure to withdraw from the summit, including from Greens councillors. But he has criticised CAM for alleging this month’s march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge was an example of antisemitism “taking over” the city.
A social media post by CAM said “these demonstrations were not about Gaza”, highlighting a poster of the Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and a sign saying “Zionists are neo-Nazis” among an estimated crowd of between 90,000 and 300,000 people.
“In my address to the summit I will make plain our total opposition to the Netanyahu government’s atrocious conduct towards Palestinian civilians,” Byrne said.
“I will also be stating categorically in my remarks at the event that depicting the citizens who attended the March for Humanity over the Harbour Bridge as antisemites is preposterous, absurd and insulting.
“I will also insist that people like us, who oppose Netanyahu’s vicious regime, also have an obligation to oppose and stamp out antisemitism and racism in our own country. This is a basic principle that I would have thought all anti-racism advocates would support.”
A CAM spokesperson said it had not condemned the march itself but highlighted “numerous manifestations of antisemitism”.
“Our concern was directed at the hate speech, incitement to violence, glorification of terrorism, and Holocaust inversion that have no place on the streets of any city across the globe,” the spokesperson said.
