Victorian MP welcomes baby with Josh Burns
“I am determined to raise both my daughters to be proud of their Jewish heritage and proud to express it openly and safely in Australia.”
Purcell said Lilah was as impatient as her mother, who was born at 37 weeks and 5 days, but came at a time when her family needed her badly.
Federal MP Josh Burns has welcomed his first child with his Victorian MP partner Georgie Purcell.Credit: Facebook/Josh Burns
“Becoming a mother was never part of my plan, but in just a few days he showed me that I couldn’t imagine life without him,” she said.
“Lilah is a daily reminder to me that the decisions we make now will reverberate for generations.”
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In a post on Facebook Monday evening, Burns said Purcell was a “superhero.”
“Her body stepped into being a loving and attentive mother right after a major surgery,” she said.
“Children are not born with hate. My daughters will grow up in a home where there is love, trust and kindness.”
Burns is the MP for Macnamara, a district in Melbourne’s inner south-east that has a large Jewish community.
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His office has been a frequent target of vandals in the years since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent Israeli military offensive in Gaza that some international organizations have called genocide.
Purcell said Lilah was as impatient as her mother, who was born at 37 weeks and 5 days, but came at a time when her family needed her badly.
Prior to Lilah’s arrival, Purcell spoke in parliament about her experiences of being sexually harassed as a political staffer and politician in Spring Street.
Purcell is not the first Victorian MP to give birth while in office.
That club includes Ellen Sandell, the Greens’ current leader in Victoria. In 2018, Sandell became the first woman to breastfeed in parliament since Kirstie Marshall in 2003.
Marshall was expelled from parliament for breastfeeding her 11-day-old daughter during a session.
Burns also has a daughter named Tia from a previous marriage.
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