Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I want to pay tribute to the fine words of the member from Berowra and the way in which he has stood up so strongly, and with real anger, frustration and heartbreak at the appalling rise in antisemitism that we have seen since 7 October. With the exception of the closing remarks of the Manager of Opposition Business, I want to pay credit to his remarks as well. I do take very serious issue with the statement he made—I think these were his words—that all they have seen from the government is 'silence and equivocation'. I don't know whether he wrote those words yesterday morning, rather than this morning, but I don't think it does proper credit to the very significant moment we saw in this parliament yesterday in question time—a very significant moment of agreement and forthright statement by the Prime Minister of this country and the alternative prime minister of the country about the hatred, disinformation, misinformation and toxic division being sown out in the community, including by some members of this parliament. I don't think it does credit, frankly, to the very significant moment we saw in question time yesterday to allege, and to accuse the government of, silence and equivocation in the face of what the member for Berowra rightly says is an appalling rise in antisemitism.

My mother's forebears Sarah and Abraham came to this country because they knew that this was as safe a place as you could find on the planet, for all races, including Jews. It's why Australia had the largest per capita intake of Holocaust survivors after World War II—because this was seen as a safe haven. It breaks people's hearts—particularly Jewish Australians' hearts. It breaks all reasonable-thinking Australians' hearts to see the appalling hatred and some of the slogans, which I won't repeat, that are used blithely now and that openly contemplate the destruction of the state of Israel. It breaks people's hearts, and I completely understand and echo the frustration that we heard in the member for Berowra's fine contribution to the parliament this morning.

Maybe if the members of the opposition had consulted with us about the idea of bringing a bill on and dealing with it in an hour—the opposition knows this is not the way we are going to deal with it. There's no way any government is going to agree to a motion that seeks to bring on legislation and deal with it in a hour with absolutely no notice given to the government or to the relevant ministers. While I accept the heartfelt comments of the member for Berowra and the Manager of Opposition Business, who I know feels deeply about this issue as well, they both know that this is not a motion the government could ever support. The idea of bringing on a bill and dealing with it in one hour with no notice is simply not a motion the government could support.

The members and other members of the opposition are quite aware of what the Minister for Education has done in response to some of the appalling hatred we are seeing on our university campuses. The opposition might not agree with some of those processes, but they are aware of them. So, while I wholeheartedly endorse many of the sentiments the member for Berowra, in particular, expressed in his heartfelt speech—I feel them deeply as well, as do so many others on this side of the House and on the crossbench—we will not be supporting this motion.

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