NSW Premier's Department threatens to fire First Nations musician over 'No Pride in Genocide' slogan

Department targets performer over pro-Palestine messaging on guitar

Jayden Kitchener-Waters is a proud Gomeroi and Ngiyampaa man who works for the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust – a state government agency that sits within the Premier’s Department.

Jayden is also a singer-songwriter, citing Archie Roach, Kev Carmody and Bob Marley as influences and inspirations.

Last week, Jayden was due to perform at the NSW Premier’s Public Service Awards at the state parliament. He had elected to play ‘Nhaalya’, a song dedicated to his niece with a verse written in Ngiyampaa.

“That’s her name; it means ‘fallen leaves’. Part of the song talks about her grandfather, who’s passed away; how he’ll always be by her side,” Jayden says. “It was going to be a beautiful opportunity to showcase our languages and show they haven’t been lost. That’s the heartbreaking thing.”

When Jayden arrived at parliament, he briefly left his guitar in the green room. When he returned, “there were two Premier’s Department staffers standing next to my guitar”.

Jayden had written the phrases ‘No Pride in Genocide’, ‘Free Gaza’ and ‘F*** the IDF’ on his guitar’s front, which the staffers warned were unacceptable slogans to display if he wished to perform. Jayden offered to cross out the expletive, which was already covered by a sticker, but the staffers took exception to the word ‘genocide’.

“They said, ‘We can’t be seen taking sides’,” Jayden alleges.

Faced with the choice, Jayden walked out.

“I don’t rationally see how there are two different ‘sides’ to genocide. I can’t convince myself of that,” he says. “’No pride in genocide’ is a statement that’s been carried by Aboriginal people across the continent for years and years in recognition of the fact that genocide was committed against us.”

Department threatens dismissal

On his way out of parliament, Jayden recorded and posted a video to Instagram documenting what had happened.

The next morning, he says he was called into a meeting with his manager and a member of the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust executive. According to Jayden, they told him a senior member of the Premier’s Department had requested that his video be taken down by 3pm the following day.

Jayden updated the video’s caption to include a disclaimer emphasising that “the messages shared in my video are my own personal opinions” and apologising “for any offence caused by suggesting these views were linked to the NSW Premier’s Department”. However, he left the video up.

On Friday, Jayden received a letter notifying him that he was under investigation for potentially breaching the NSW public servants code of conduct and summoning him to a meeting later today.

The letter – which Jayden has also posted online – warned that the Department may “terminate [his] employment” if it determines that Jayden’s actions amount to misconduct. It also warned that Jayden “must not mention this matter to or on any media or social media platform”.

Jayden says he is “not discouraged” by the prospect of losing his job.

“I’ve dedicated my life to the revitalisation of our languages as a result of the genocides that happened in this country,” he says. “If standing for what’s right means that I get fired, then I welcome it. I encourage it.”

‘This story needs to be told in parliament’

Jayden has received an outpouring of support from prominent First Nations musicians, including Barkaa and Tasman Keith, as well as offers of legal assistance.

NSW Greens MLC Sue Higginson has written to Premier Chris Minns and department secretary Simon Draper asking that they “stop the Premier’s Department’s appalling persecution”.

“If Minns wants to use First Nations people to white-wash his appalling record on First Nations justice, he cannot justify his Department then kicking First Nations people to the curb for having political opinions,” Higginson said.

Asked why he felt the need to use the Premier’s Department dinner as a platform, Jayden cites a September speech he gave in the NSW parliamentary chamber as part of the state’s Young Aboriginal Leaders Program.

“We understand the importance of how stories are told, but just as significantly, we understand the importance of where stories are told,” Jayden said at the time. “Stories told in places of power and influence, such as this building, matter.”

Jayden also points to Minns’ welcoming of Israeli and international weapons manufacturers directly implicated in the Gaza genocide to the Indo-Pacific Weapons Exposition at Darling Harbour earlier this month as an example of why “this story needs to be told in parliament”.

“In high school I was lucky enough to go to a synagogue on the Northern Beaches. I know that Judaism is a religion of love and peace and humanity,” Jayden says. “I stand side by side with any human being, regardless of their religion, so long as they stand for what’s right.”

Responding to questions, a Premier’s Department representative said “the Premier’s Department Code of Conduct states employees should not act in a manner, or make or endorse comment, that could cast doubt on their ability to act impartially, apolitically and professionally”.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further on individual staffing matters.”