A young Aboriginal musician and advocate is under investigation and has been told he could lose his job within the NSW Premier's Department after he tried to perform at a Parliament House dinner with anti-genocide and anti-war messaging on his guitar.
Gomeroi and Ngiyampaa man Jayden Kitchener-Waters was due to perform at the Premier's public servants Awards on Monday night.
While waiting in the green room Department staff told him messages painted on to his guitar were "too political".
"NO PRIDE IN GENOCIDE", "FREE GAZA" and "F*CK THE IDF" was the writing which raised the Department's concern.
Mr Kitchener-Waters works as an Community Engagement Officer at the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust. He is also the founder of Gomeroi language revitalisation-focused Gambadul Aboriginal Corporation.
After declining to cover up the messages with tape, he walked from the gig.
"Apparently they were 'too political' for Parliament House because they 'can't be seen choosing sides'," he wrote in a post to social media filmed while leaving the dinner.
The 25-year-old said he offered to get rid of the word 'F*CK' before staff also raised concerns with the 'NO PRIDE IN GENOCIDE' statement.
"I said absolutely not, I'm not performing tonight. I'm out of here," he told National Indigenous Times.
As he was leaving the building a seperate staff member, who Mr Kitchener-Waters doesn't suggest and can't confirm works for the Department, answered "not really" when he asked them if they supported genocide.
'No pride in Genocide' is a common phrase and which has been in use within Aboriginal communities "across the continent, for decades" stretching back much further and separately to the more recent conflict in Gaza, Mr Kitchener-Waters said.
"Only now do people have an issue with it. To be told that that they can't be seen having a choosing a side in relation to genocide is absolutely disgusting and genuinely heartbreaking," he told National Indigenous Times.
At the awards he was due to perform the song 'Nhayla', written for his niece and sung in both English and Ngiyampaa language.
The same staff member, one of two who raised concerns about his guitar, had told Mr Kitchener-Waters leading up to the event they "loved" the song and couldn't wait for him to perform it on the night, he said.
"That same person...being the one who told me I can't perform was incredibly heartbreaking," Mr Kitchener-Waters said.
"As a young Aboriginal man that wants to do the best for my communities and share our beautiful language and culture, to be told that, and also be told that I can't have 'NO PRIDE IN GENOCIDE' written on my guitar, was a real slap in the face to everything that I stand for.
"And everything that my old people are fought so f**king hard for."
A post shared by Jayden Kitchener-Waters (@jaydenkitchenerwaters)
He had applied for and later accepted the voluntary opportunity to perform a few months out from the awards night.
In a meeting with Premier's Department staff following the night, Mr Kitchener-Waters said he was told to take down his initial video by 3pm Tuesday as it breached their code of conduct and code of ethics, and that a private investigation had been launched.
The potential consequence of a breach was being sacked from his role, he was told.
"Could you imagine asking me to take down a video that's calling out genocide, and thinking that I would actually do it?," Mr Kitchener-Waters said in a second video to social media this week.
"Despite their efforts to silence our voices, we will continue to speak up for what's right," he stated in the second post to social media.
"And they're going to need a lot more than gaffer tape to keep us silent."
Subsequent meetings have taken place with investigations continuing, he said.
In one meeting, Mr Kitchener said, it was implied it had already been decided he had breached the code of conduct, while investigations were ongoing.
This came after he asked questions about who had written an intial letter of allegation against him.
His own requests for an investigation of the staff member at Parliament who responded "not really" to his question have been met with silence, Mr Kitchener-Waters said.
He's scheduled to meet with the Department's Associate Director of People, Culture and Talent and Deputy Secretary of Aboriginal Affairs New South Wales on Monday.
Earlier this year, Mr Kitchener-Waters attended Parliament as a member of NSW's first-ever Young Aboriginal Leaders Program.
"If standing up against genocide means that I lose my job, then I actively encourage and welcome it," he said.
In an update to his original post, the musician clarified the video was a sharing of his personal experience, personal opinions and the messaging on his guitar was in no way representative of the NSW Premier's Department.
He also told National Indigenous Times genocide, in a more present sense, "has nothing to do" with the "beautiful, kind and empathetic" religion of Judaism, but a broader issue is present regarding Israel and related complexities appearing in Australia.
"I stand in unity with anybody, regardless of religion, as long as they stand for what's right," he said.
A spokesperson for the Premier's Department said the 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," the spokesperson said.
