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

on indulgence—On behalf of the coalition, I condemn those actions we witnessed this morning. We welcome the news that four people have been arrested, and we thank the Australian Federal Police and the protective service officers here in the building for the work they do. We welcome your advice that an investigation is underway by the Australian Federal Police and no doubt by Parliamentary Services as well. Serious questions need to be asked about how these people were permitted entry into the building—in a couple of cases, as I understand it—and about who provided support to those people, and I think those questions need answers sooner rather than later.

We need to understand the gravity of the situation, because these images will be beamed around the world, as they were when we saw those disgraceful, repugnant behaviours on the steps of the Sydney Opera House on 9 October. We need to send a very clear message that it is completely and utterly unacceptable in our society, in our democracy, that we see those messages hanging from the front of this parliament. They are antisemitic. 'River to the sea' is a statement about wiping out, eliminating, a race of people; let's be very clear about it. There's been a lot of debate in this place about how that might work, whether those words have a different form of meaning and perhaps can be justified in some way or other. They can't be, and they never will be.

Mr Speaker, serious questions need to be answered. I wrote to you this morning, and cc'd the Prime Minister, expressing our grave concern that those flags were up there for at least 1½ hours. They should have been taken down immediately. We understand the safety issues; nonetheless, it sends exactly the wrong message. We welcome the outcome, as belated as it was, and we hope never to see a repeat of it again.

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