Latest news with #HenrothInvestments
ABC News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says he believes antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal did not know husband's trust donated to Advance
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says he believes antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal when she says she did not know about a $50,000 donation a trust linked to her husband John Roth made to right-wing political lobby group Advance. Ms Segal had on Sunday distanced herself from the donation that was made public in a report by The Klaxon. That report cited Australian Electoral Commission donation records from the 2023/24 reporting period. Australian Security and Investments Commission (ASIC) records list Ms Segal's husband and his brother Stanley Roth, as directors of Henroth Investments Pty Ltd. "No one would tolerate or accept my husband dictating my politics, and I certainly won't dictate his," Ms Segal told SBS on Sunday. Advance — formerly Advance Australia — is a right-wing lobby group that has previously accused left-leaning politicians of being "mostly on the same side as Hamas" when it comes to the war in Gaza. "I wasn't aware of it until the reports came out," Mr Burke told 7.30 of the donation. "Advance is an appalling organisation ... and I have no time for that organisation at all. "It's a long time since we've been a country where you would blame a woman for decisions of her husband. And so with that in mind, I don't think she's answerable for her husband. One of the recommendations from Ms Segal's recently released report into antisemitism is to withhold funding from universities that fail to reduce hatred against Jewish students. Ms Segal, who was appointed to the envoy role by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year, said her plan was a comprehensive, long-term approach to combating antisemitism and introducing a strategy already in place in many other nations. "We cannot hope to really abolish antisemitism, but we can push it to the margins," Ms Segal said. Asked if he felt the government would accept the recommendation to strip funding Mr Burke said that was not the goal. "The objective here is not to be stripping funding, it's not to be cancelling people, the objective is actually to never fall foul of the need to make sure that we're combating antisemitism," Mr Burke said. "Over the last year-and-a-half, we have seen a spike in antisemitism in Australia. Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here.
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Antisemitism envoy denies involvement in major donation by husband's company to rightwing group Advance
Australia's antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, says she had no involvement in a major donation from her husband's company to the controversial conservative campaign group Advance, which has strongly railed against overseas immigration, pro-Palestine protests and the Labor government. Guardian Australia first reported in February that Henroth Investments Pty Ltd had donated $50,000 to Advance in 2023-24, according to Australian Electoral Commission annual donation disclosure figures. One of that company's directors, according to corporate records, is John Roth – Segal's husband. Advance received more than $15.6m in the 2023-24 financial year, according to the AEC figures. The Henroth donation was the equal second-largest donation to Advance last year, one of five donors to give $50,000 to the group. Advance campaigned vigorously against the Labor government and the Greens at the May election, with a major focus on criticising their responses to antisemitism and immigration issues as well as questioning renewable energy, net zero, and Indigenous welcome to country ceremonies. Advance frequently derided Anthony Albanese, who appointed Segal to her position, as making Australia 'weak, woke and broke', and accused him of 'letting foreign criminals back into your communities, and staying silent over increasingly violent protests'. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The Henroth donation resurfaced after a report from independent news site the Klaxon over the weekend after Segal's delivery of 49 recommendations to the government to address antisemitism. Corporate records show John Roth and his brother, Stanley, listed since 1975 as directors of the company set up by their father, Henry. Segal's name is not listed in any official capacity for the company. In a brief two-line response to questions, Segal distanced herself from the Henroth donation. 'No one would tolerate or accept my husband dictating my politics, and I certainly won't dictate his. I have had no involvement in his donation, nor will I,' she said in a statement. Segal's office did not respond to questions about whether she held any interest in Henroth Investments, nor whether she was aware of the donation made to Advance. Segal's office also did not respond to questions about whether Segal had comment about the actions or campaign efforts of Advance, or whether she had any concerns about the potential impacts on social cohesion of Advance's campaign material. Advance has counted former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott as a board member and Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as a spokesperson. It led the no campaign in the Indigenous voice referendum and ran controversial and ultimately unsuccessful campaigns in various political elections focusing on crime and immigration issues. Albanese in 2024 accused Advance of being 'very partisan' and spreading 'a whole lot of misinformation' during the Dunkley byelection; its controversial referendum campaign drew criticisms of racism and misinformation from opponents and some Liberal MPs. Following the May election, which saw the Coalition reduced to a historically low parliamentary caucus, several senior Liberal sources questioned the impact of Advance Australia, with some warning it 'undermined' and cost the Liberals votes. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Advance's recent campaign activity includes calls to reverse clean energy policies, 'drop welcome to country' and 'stop mass immigration'. Last week, the group posted a screenshot of a job ad for a 'Palestinian settlement and community development worker' in Sydney, asking 'why do we have to pay for this, exactly?' Other recent posts have also raised issues related to Palestine. 'Who would've thought bringing hundreds of people from Gaza would be a risk to security,' Advance posted on X on Friday. Last week, the group also posted: 'If you chant 'globalise the intifada' on the street, you should be deported. End of story.' In April 2024, posting about pro-Palestine protests on Anzac Day, Advance posted on X: 'If you hate our country, why don't you go live in 'Palestine'?' In March, Advance posted on X that Greens politicians 'should take their keffiyehs and mardi gras marches to the streets of Gaza … then we'd see how quick they want to go back to hugging trees'. Advance's largest declared donor last year was the Cormack foundation, best known as a multimillion-dollar investment vehicle for the Liberal party and one of the party's biggest single donors, which pledged $500,000 to the conservative campaign group.
SBS Australia
13-07-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Antisemitism envoy denies involvment in husband's trust donation to anti-immigrant group
The federal government's special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, has distanced herself from a $50,000 donation a trust linked to her husband made to political lobby group Advance Australia, which posts right-wing, anti-Muslim content. Data from the Australian Electoral Commission show the donation was made by Henroth Investments Pty Ltd to Advance Australia in the 2023-24 reporting period. Records on the Australian Security and Investments Commission (ASIC) lists Segal's husband John Roth, and his brother Stanley Roth, as directors of Henroth Investments Pty Ltd. Advance Australia posts anti-immigration content on its social media accounts, regularly calling for an end to "mass immigration" in Australia. The group recently claimed Palestinians in Australia were a "risk to security", was a significant player in the No campaign against an Indigenous Voice to parliament and has called for an end to Welcome to Country ceremonies. It recently posted an AI-generated picture of a group of people including women wearing hijab head coverings outside a house on a post critical of immigration. In a statement to SBS News, Segal responded to the donation reports which was first published by independent outlet The Klaxon. "No one would tolerate or accept my husband dictating my politics, and I certainly won't dictate his," Segal said. "I have had no involvement in his donations, nor will I." There is no suggestion Segal was involved in the donation. A recent Advance Australia Facebook post. Source: Facebook Henroth Investments also made $75,000 donations to the NSW and WA Liberal branches.
