Jewish Board of Deputies CEO believes Perrottet’s apology ‘absolutely’ should have come earlier but now wants to focus on education about Holocaust

A leader in the New South Wales Jewish community has admitted Premier Dominic Perrottet should have apologised earlier for wearing a Nazi costume but wants the incident to be an opportunity for education.

The Premier on Thursday revealed he wore the highly offensive costume to his 21st birthday in 2003 and profusely apologised and admitted he was deeply ashamed of the outfit.

The apology came after revelations Mr Perrottet had been informed a picture of the costume could be leaked.

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NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) CEO Darren Bark told SkyNews.com.au he welcomed Mr Perrottet’s apology but said it should not have come after he was forced into action.

“The Premier should have come out earlier and apologised to the community and society more broadly. Let’s be clear this is no laughing matter, it is not a joke and wearing of a uniform and the display of Nazi symbols is a serious thing,” Mr Bark said.

“He absolutely should have come out earlier and I think he has expressed that himself.”

The Jewish community was left shocked and saddened by the news the state’s Premier wore such an offensive costume but Mr Bark said the focus was now about education rather than punishment.

“His apology was sincere, he was at pains to express how ashamed and how disappointed he was in himself and I think he has expressed that very, very clearly,” Mr Bark said.

“Our focus is now what we do going forward, as I said the community’s response has been a wide range of emotions as you would expect especially in the last 24 hours since we found out about this.

“But our focus is now what we can do together between now and into the future to address these kinds of issues.”

Mr Perrottet called the JBD to make a private apology before he held the press conference to reveal he wore the Nazi uniform and after the appearance he visited the Sydney Jewish Museum to meet with the JBD leaders.

At the Sydney Jewish Museum meeting the Premier met with Mr Bark and the JBD where he continued to apologise and they visited the wall of Holocaust survivors and victims.

“Subsequent to our meeting we received an open letter to the Sydney Jewish and the NSW Jewish community that we circulated,” he said.

In the open letter to the community Mr Perrottet insisted the incident did not “reflect in any way my attitude towards the Jewish community” but rather his “naivety and insensitivity” to the Holocaust.

Mr Perrottet appeared on Friday and was met with a barrage of questions about the incident and he continued to apologise while his ministers defended their leader.

The Premier was flanked by Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Customer Services Minister Victor Dominello while at Ryde Hospital.

“He’s an amazing guy, he’s done an incredible job… I’m prepared to back him 100 per cent,” Mr Hazzard said.

The Premier said he was still receiving “overwhelming support” from his Liberal colleagues despite the incident placing the party’s election hopes at risk.

“It is ultimately not about me in relation to this, it is about the hurt that the mistake made caused many people across our community and I am terribly sorry for that,” he said.

Despite the support Mr Perrottet could not confirm whether a party room meeting would be held in the coming days and said it would be a matter for the “members of the party”.