Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Moreton for moving his motion. The member raises this motion at a time when there's been a real increase in the rise of racist violence in our community, and a motion such as this is most important. Over time in our country, we've seen an erosion in tolerance. As parliamentarians we have a duty to stand up and decry racial and religious vilification where it occurs. We must remind Australians of the values that bind us together as a nation.

Today I want to provide a particularly personal perspective as a Jewish Australian. In the last year, Australia has witnessed a 60 per cent increase in anti-Semitic attacks. Long discredited anti-Semitic ideas are now being given credence by the far left and the far right, and with social media unchallenged anti-Semitic ideas spread quickly.

The election campaign seemed to be a lightning rod for these activities. During the election, I was one of several candidates from all parties who had posters defaced by people trying to intimidate me by sending a message of hate. First, it was swastikas and Hitler moustaches on my posters in a street of Normanhurst. Then, my campaign office, private property, was plastered with antipodean resistance stickers. And, finally, the photo on my campaign office was painted over with dollar signs. The Treasurer experienced similar attacks when his posters were daubed with dollar signs and other anti-Semitic messages. That's not because he's Treasurer; it's because, like me, he's Jewish and, like me, he's been targeted by the merchants of hate. The dollar signs refer to the old anti-Semitic lies of an international Jewish banking conspiracy. These sentiments were used by those who have sought to spread the hatred of Jews for centuries. I've been involved in politics for 27 years, but I've never seen anything like this before.

These weren't isolated incidents. A few weeks earlier, a restaurant in Epping, just outside my constituency, was plastered with anti-Semitic slogans, including, 'Watch out Jews' and 'Kill Jews'. Vicious emails were also distributed about the former member for Wentworth Kerryn Phelps which falsely claimed she had been disqualified from the election because as a Jew she was in breach of section 44.

These acts didn't stop or start with the election. In September last year, the Labor member for Eden-Monaro, a prominent supporter of Israel and the Jewish community, had neo-Nazi stickers and a bag of pig entrails thrown at his office. The Treasurer continues to be harassed by what is nothing more than an anti-Semitic legal action questioning his right to sit in this place. But none of this compares to the most appalling incidents which occurred in two public schools in Melbourne. A 12-year-old Jewish boy was forced to get down on his knees and kiss the shoes of a Muslim classmate. The boy had been bullied into this act, with older students threatening violence if he didn't comply with their request. He was also sent texts that threatened he'd be slaughtered and asked if he thought about suicide. And a five-year-old, who was so taunted by other children in the bathroom for being a Jew and being circumcised, that he wet himself rather than going to the toilet. When this type of hatred is appearing in our children, we should be deeply concerned about the future of this country. But as Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the Commonwealth, has written, 'The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews.'

Late last year, a Hindu temple in Regents Park was vandalised. Holy statues were strewn across the floor, instruments broken and the room was smeared with paint. The vandals didn't steal anything; they wanted to destroy the house of worship. Near Wollongong in April, a Muslim family had gathered at a lookout for a picnic and a man began screaming anti-Islamic sentiments at them. He proceeded to get in his car and drive around them doing burnouts on the grass where they'd set up, just so he could intimidate them. This is absolutely un-Australian, but unfortunately it's becoming increasingly common.

The day after the Christchurch terror attack, I went to visit the Imam Hasan centre, a mosque at Annangrove in my electorate. I told the congregants I knew they were scared and I knew exactly how they felt, because the recent synagogue shootings in the United States had made me feel exactly the same way when I attended my synagogue. I came home and I called Minister Coleman and the Prime Minister and lobbied for increased funding so that people of faith, particularly religious minorities, can attend houses of worship and other places of communal gathering in safety. I'm pleased the government responded with a $55 million increase in the Safer Communities Fund, putting in place long-needed security infrastructure in communal buildings for a range of faiths.

In a recent speech to the Thomas More Society, I noted the rise in discrimination against Christians. The rise in religious discrimination is the reason why the government is preparing a religious discrimination act. Australia is the most successful multicultural country on earth. Our differences are what make us strong and are what make us interesting. Governments can provide laws and funding, but only individual citizens can create that shared space for us to live together in harmony. That is a national project worth pursuing.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

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