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

I want to make it very clear to the Australian people that there is a bipartisan position in this chamber and that we speak with one voice when we condemn acts of violence, wherever they take place but particularly in our country at a period where there is heightened concern, legitimately, within many parts of the country. Last week, I was at a school in Sydney where armed guards have a permanent presence to protect young children going to school, to protect young kids going to daycare centres, not because they have done anything wrong, not because their families have done anything wrong or stand for any bad cause but because they are Jewish. That is why, and that has no place in our country whatsoever. It is not with any precedent in any other part of the country and it needs to be condemned. The Prime Minister today has condemned the actions of those who seek, for their own political purposes and their own political advancement, to pour fuel on this fire. They deserve the condemnation of this chamber, from day one.

In fact, after October 7, when 1,200 people were slaughtered by a terrorist organisation, to this day, people are still held in a tunnel network. Women and children are still held by the terrorist organisation. But as we know, the Greens political party didn't wait for advice or evidence or a security briefing; they were out there condemning the Israelis immediately and without hesitation. And now we see on university campuses the hatred directed towards people who are academics, who are students, not because of views that they hold or causes that they support but because they are of Jewish faith. It is completely and utterly unacceptable and it needs to be condemned.

We are seeing now the offices of elected members of parliament being targeted with red paint, with vile messages of hate and discrimination and antisemitism, and it should be condemned. The Greens should condemn it instead of condoning it. Our country at the moment has an amazing Jewish community. We know, from speaking to some of the Holocaust survivors, that they fled war-torn Europe at the end of the Second World War and they have lived in our country in peace and harmony, have contributed to our great, amazing country that it is today without concern, without condemnation, without fear. We know today that those people, people who are in their eighties and nineties, are telling us that for the first time in the lifetimes they fear their presence in our country. They are talking about moving from our country and finding a safe haven somewhere else.

Six million people were gassed in the Second World War and we have got people in our country today out there on university campuses and outside MP's offices denying that that took place, or saying the biggest attack on the Jewish population since that time, the slaughter of 1,200 people, somehow does not count for anything and that it shouldn't be condemned. They should be ashamed of their actions and it has no place in our country.

We know that Hamas is using people, Palestinians, as human shields, as many terrorist organisations have done over the course of history. Why would they be any different from al-Qaeda or other terrorist organisations that we have known? Why would they value human life when many such people have had the depraved approach that they have over the course of history? Why would they be any different? Of course, they're not. We want peace delivered as quickly as possible. It is in the hands of Hamas right now. There is a deal on the table. Hamas have the ability to bring this to an end, but of course they won't, because they don't care for Palestinians. They don't care for Israelis. They care for their own power base.

The world should stand together to condemn the actions of antisemitism. We stand as one in this chamber—or we should stand as one—to make sure that we condemn the unacceptable levels of antisemitism that we see playing out on our streets. It has no place, and we will take every action we need, as a chamber, to make sure that we condemn those acts of antisemitism in our country. The Greens political party today is properly and rightly condemned.

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