Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion immediately—

That the House:

(1) expresses its grave concern at the vicious rise of antisemitic vilification in our country, and the breakdown in social cohesion occurring in our communities;

(2) expresses its grave concern that social disharmony has reached dangerous levels, and that community safety is now at significant risk;

(3) condemns the Prime Minister's failure to show the strong leadership required to overcome divisions within his own caucus, to stamp out antisemitism and bring our country together;

(4) expresses its concern that community safety in this country has been further threatened by the release of more than 80 hardcore criminals from immigration detention into the Australian community;

(5) expresses its deep concern that this cohort includes individuals who have committed acts of child rape, murder, sexual assault, and other violent crimes;

(6) condemns the Government for catastrophically and demonstrably failing to prepare contingencies for High Court proceedings where it fully aware of the risks;

(7) condemns the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs for consequently undertaking an unprecedented and shocking mass release of dangerous criminal non-citizens into the Australian community; and

(8) therefore calls on the Prime Minister to:

(a) understand that his priority must be the protection of the Australian community at home;

(b) cancel his plans to travel to the United States;

(c) urgently convene a National Cabinet meeting to formulate a strong and coherent response to combat the rise of antisemitism, repair social cohesion and protect community safety;

(d) urgently bring forward any legislation necessary to neutralise the threat posed by the hardcore criminals his Government has released into the Australian Community; and

(e) amend the days and hours of sitting to facilitate the passage of such legislation prior to the rising of the Parliament this week.

The reality is that this Prime Minister has been missing in action—missing in action when the Australian people need him most. The Australian Prime Minister has one of the most serious charges in this country: that is to take care of the Australian people; to protect and to defend them; to make sure that, where threats exist, the Prime Minister utilises the powers at his disposal to deal with those threats, to neutralise them, and to keep our country and our people safe. And he fails at the first hurdle.

The dreadful attacks that we saw on 7 October in Israel resulted in terrorists—a listed terrorist organisation here in our country and in other countries in the West and other parts of the developed world, Hamas—going in and massacring people of Jewish faith. It was a disgraceful act and rightly condemned by both sides of politics. It has given rise to a discussion here in this country, in the United States and elsewhere in the world, and it has seen a significant rise in antisemitic behaviour.

I commend those members, one of them that I can identify, on the opposite side, for having the guts to stand up and to speak strongly in favour of the Jewish community and against those who perform provocative acts, calling Jews names that shouldn't be repeated anywhere, but saying: 'Eff the Jews,' and, 'Gas the Jews.' And this Prime Minister had a solemn duty—

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