Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that 14 May 2018 is the 70th anniversary of the creation of the modern state of Israel, a seminal event that occurred in 1948, and congratulates Israel on an amazing seventy years of democracy, growth and prosperity;

(2) recognises that 15 July 2018 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the fateful Évian Conference, convened by President Roosevelt in 1938 in Évian-les-Bains, France, with 31 countries, to discuss the issue of the plight of Jewish refugees fleeing the horror of Nazi persecution;

(3) further notes that:

(a) the Australian Minister for Trade and Customs in 1938, Lieutenant Colonel T.W. White, declined to further assist the Jewish people, stating 'Australia has her own particular difficulties...migration has naturally been predominantly British, and it (is not) desired that this be largely departed from while British settlers are forthcoming. Under the circumstances Australia cannot do more, for it will be appreciated that in a young country manpower from the source from which most of its citizens have sprung is preferred, while undue privileges cannot be given to one particular class of non-British subjects without injustices to others. It will no doubt be appreciated also that as we have no real racial problem, we are not desirous of importing one by encouraging any scheme of large-scale foreign migration...I hope that the conference will find a solution of this tragic world problem';

(b) post Kristallnacht, when the Nazis burned Jewish synagogues, businesses and books, Australia did reassess its policy to admit 15,000 refugees over three years, compared to the previous quota of 1,800 per year;

(c) an estimated 6 million Jews and millions of others died during the Holocaust, exacerbated by the failure of Australia and other nations of the world to more fully protect the Jewish people; and

(d) Lieutenant-Colonel White's statement on behalf of the Government of Australia is still visible at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, as a representative response for all other nations' responses of indifference at the Évian Conference;

(4) states that this Parliament, as representative of all political parties and the people of Australia, issues a profound apology and says 'sorry' to the Jewish people for the indifference shown by the Parliament in 1938 that worsened the impact of the Holocaust; and

(5) notes that:

(a) in doing so, we seek to honour the memory of all those who lost their lives in the Holocaust and make right, a great wrong, perpetuated by Australia on the Jewish people;

(b) a request will be made for this motion to be presented to Yad Vashem this 70th year asking that the parliamentary apology be displayed beside Lieutenant-Colonel White's statement of 1938 that he issued on behalf of the Government of Australia; and

(c) this motion will be provided to the Knesset this 70th year, one parliament to another.

This year celebrates a number of historic milestones for the great state of Israel. 14 May is the 70th anniversary of the creation of the modern state of Israel, a seminal event that created the only free democracy in the Middle East. This parliament warmly congratulates our sister in democracy, the Israeli Knesset and the people of Israel for what they have achieved: an amazing 70 years of democracy, growth and prosperity. Israel remains the light, a beacon of hope for the Middle East, and we are so proud to stand with her.

But, amidst the 70th anniversary of joy, 15 July this year unfortunately marks the 80th anniversary of sorrow, for it's the anniversary of the end of the fateful Evian conference convened by President Roosevelt in 1938 in Evian-les-Bains, France with 31 countries to discuss the issue of the plight of Jewish refugees fleeing the horror of Nazi persecution. It's an anniversary of the world turning its back on God's holy chosen Jewish people. It's an anniversary that this parliament will seek to atone for today. As we do so, I acknowledge that his issue was raised a decade ago in this place by the member for Isaacs. His reasons were genuine, and it's doubtful whether we would have reached today without his sincere, heartfelt intervention a decade ago. I therefore offer a thankyou to the member for Isaacs and all those who spoke with him for their humanity and quest to make things right 10 years past. It's a pleasure to stand in the House of Representatives with him and my other good colleagues today representing both major political parties. I acknowledge the member for Eden-Monaro at the desk.

Today this parliament, as representative of all political parties and the people of Australia, issues a profound apology and says sorry to the people for the indifference shown by the parliament in 1938 that worsened the impact of the Holocaust. We do this because the Australian government sent to Evian the Australian Minister for Trade and Customs, Lieutenant Colonel TW White, with a message of indifference. Doubtless he did not go and speak on his authority but on that of the executive government of the day, but his words were not challenged by this parliament. At Evian the Australian Minister for Trade and Customs declined to further assist the Jewish people in their hour of need, stating:

Australia has her own particular difficulties ... migration has naturally been predominantly British, and it (is not) desired that this be largely departed from while British settlers are forthcoming.

…   …   …

Under the circumstances Australia cannot do more, for it will be appreciated that in a young country manpower from the source from which most of its citizens have sprung is preferred, while undue privileges cannot be given to one particular class of non-British subjects without injustices to others. It will no doubt be appreciated also that as we have no real racial problem, we are not desirous of importing one by encouraging any scheme of large-scale foreign migration…I hope that the conference will find a solution of this tragic world problem.

Those words spoken by the minister in 1938—'As we have no real racial problem, we are not desirous of importing one by encouraging any scheme of large-scale foreign migration,' and, 'I hope that the conference will find a solution for this tragic world problem'—have haunted our nation. Our nation's government turned its back on our Jewish friends at the exact time they needed us. Our parliament said nothing. Understandably, Lieutenant Colonel White's statement on behalf of the government of Australia is still visible at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem as representative of all other nations' responses of indifference at the Evian Conference. Australia was not alone; the world turned its back. For Australia's indifference, this parliament says sorry.

Five months later, post Kristallnacht—when the Nazis burnt Jewish synagogues, businesses and books, and hauled Jews to concentration camps—thankfully Australia did reassess its policy of only taking 1,800 refugees per year. News of the Nazi's dreadful pogrom strengthened the position of many organisations arguing for a liberalisation of the country's immigration policy. Support for the admission of Jewish refugees now came from unexpected quarters. On 18 November 1938, the New South Wales Trades and Labour Council, which had traditionally been opposed to immigration, passed a resolution asking the government to accept Jewish refugees and, if necessary, to support them financially.

At the same time, from London, Australia's high commissioner, former Prime Minister Stanley Bruce, told the government on 21 November that 'strong feeling is rapidly developing', that an unprecedented international effort was required to deal with Jewish refugees from Germany and that Australia might find itself in an 'embarrassing situation' if it did not make a statement regarding its approach. He suggested a quota of 30,000 refugees over three years. Cabinet agreed to Bruce's proposal in principle but halved the figure. On 1 December, the Minister for the Interior, John McEwen, announced the new policy that had been approved by cabinet the night before in parliament. He said that Australia would admit up to 15,000 refugees from Europe over three years. Hansard from 1 December 1938 records McEwen's speech.

The government feels that, if a solution of this problem is to be found, countries must be prepared to receive a proportion of those to be expatriated, in relation to the capacity of the countries to assimilate them.

By the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, more than 7,000 Jewish refugees had arrived in Australia. Our country's indifference had started to change.

As the horrors of the Second World War unfolded, the tragedy of Hitler's venom against God's holy people, the Jews, was becoming known. In December 1942 the Allies, including Australia, issued a joint announcement about their recognition of the massacre of Jews in Poland. Soon, the United Jewish Emergency Committee was instituted in Sydney, while the United Jewish Overseas Relief Fund was founded in Melbourne. In 1943, all Jewish communities in Australia presented a joint resolution to Prime Minister Curtin asking him to support Jewish immigration to Australia and soon-to-be Israel, and to take part in any international relief effort for the survivors of the Nazi horrors. However, the government responded negatively to these requests. Unfortunately, people were just not aware of the true extent of the Nazi horror and, thus, were not empathetic to the cause. The lack of understanding in Australia is reflected by the label given to Jewish refugees from Europe: they were called 'enemy aliens'.

On this 80th anniversary of sorrow, I sought guidance on atonement for wrong from the Jewish law, theTorah, represented, of course, in my Bible in The Old Testament in Leviticus 5:14-19. It said:

The Lord said to Moses: "When anyone is unfaithful to the Lord by sinning unintentionally in regard to any of the Lord's holy things, they are to bring to the Lord as a penalty a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. It is a guilt offering. They must make restitution for what they have failed to do in regard to the holy things, pay an additional penalty of a fifth of its value and give it all to the priest. The priest will make atonement for them with the ram as a guilt offering, and they will be forgiven.

"If anyone sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands, even though they do not know it, they are guilty and will be held responsible. They are to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for them for the wrong they have committed unintentionally, and they will be forgiven. It is a guilt offering; they have been guilty of wrongdoing against the Lord.

Today, this parliament recognises we have been guilty of failing to do something in regard to the holy things. We failed to protect more of God's holy people, the Jews. Our ram and the additional one-fifth value we present today, our guilt offering, are our words of atonement, our apology, our profound sense of sorry.

We do this from both sides of the aisle. Both the Labor and Liberal parties argued for the expanded refugee intake in 1938 to save Jewish lives 80 years ago. So today both parties stand together to say sorry for the indifference at Evian. Both Labor and Liberal MPs did not do enough in 1943 to support the Jewish community's joint resolution to more fully embrace Jewish refugee migration. Again, we say sorry.

An estimated six million Jews and millions of others died during the Holocaust, exacerbated by the failure of Australia and every nation of the world to protect the Jewish people more fully. Thus today we seek to honour the memory of all those who lost their lives in the Holocaust and to make right a great wrong perpetuated by Australia and the rest of world on the Jewish people—that of indifference. Today we present our parliament's guilt offering through our words and draw a line under this Evian conference of sorrow. Today we vow never again to turn our back on Israel, or on our Jewish brothers and sisters, wherever they are in the world. Today we reaffirm our love and commitment to Israel.

As we do this, I request that this motion be presented to Yad Vashem in this 70th year, asking that the apology be displayed beside Lieutenant Colonel White's statement of 1938 that he issued on behalf of the government of Australia. I formally passed this request along to the secretary of Israel's foreign minister, and sought his assistance. I also request that this motion be provided to the Knesset in this 70th where year, one parliament to another. Again, I formally passed this request along to the convenor of the Israel Allies Caucus Knesset member Robert Ilatov.

I'll be in Israel in September this year, during Sukkot, as one of the chairs of the Israel Allies Caucus, made up of over 30 parliaments of the world. I look forward to bringing our guilt offering, this motion and its speeches, personally both to the Knesset and to Yad Vashem.

Let me conclude this morning with the words of Psalm 122:

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

"May those who love you be secure.

May there be peace within your walls

and security within your citadels."

For the sake of my family and friends,

I will say, "Peace be within you."

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek your prosperity.

Amen.

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