Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm a very proud Jewish Australian. I'm not particularly religious, but my family has contributed to Australian life over many generations. I can trace my family back to the beginnings of European settlement in Australia. My four-times-great-grandfather, Abraham Rheuben, was one of the founders of the Hobart Synagogue, which is still functioning today. My grandfather was one of the founders of the Emanuel Synagogue in Woollahra, which was recently subjected to an attack of antisemitism and defacement. I'm very proud of my heritage. My family, over many generations, as I've said, has contributed to Australian life in many ways: in law, in medicine, in business and in other fields. One of my ancestors was one of the first paediatric cardiothoracic surgeons in Australia, and many others have contributed, particularly in medicine, over many years.

Antisemitism, of course, has existed in Australia since European settlement. We have had episodes of antisemitism going back to the 1800s and the early 20th century. There was, of course, the bombing of the Israeli consulate and the Hakoah club in 1982. The Bankstown Synagogue, where I did part of my Hebrew studies prior to my bar mitzvah, was firebombed and completely destroyed in 1991. The recent increase in antisemitism has been shocking, and, with the recent conflict in the Middle East, we've seen the ramping up of these antisemitic episodes. It is terrible, but we are very lucky to live in a multicultural, secular democracy like Australia, where we live by the rule of law, and we are very grateful for the efforts of the police and the security forces to make sure that these episodes of antisemitism are being followed up and investigated. Ultimately, the perpetrators, I am confident, will be punished. I don't believe in mandatory sentencing, and I do believe that we should trust in the legal process. We do have the separation of powers, and we do need to trust in the legal process to make sure that people are appropriately punished for the crimes they commit—and these are crimes. They're terrible crimes. As a paediatrician, the way that schools and preschools have been targeted is absolutely shocking and does ongoing damage. I can completely understand the reticence of parents to send their kids to these schools and preschools because of this recent spate of antisemitic attacks. The attacks must be stopped.

The most important thing I see, though, is social cohesion. We must act together on this. I congratulate the Prime Minister and the government on their efforts. We have done many, many things to try to prevent episodes of antisemitism and make sure they are appropriately punished, such as establishing Operation Avalite with the Australian Federal Police, banning doxxing and the display of antisemitic symbols, the appointment of Peter Khalil as the Special Envoy for Social Cohesion—he's been excellent—and the appointment of the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, who is doing a fantastic job. The government has funded security and improvements in the Sydney Jewish Museum and in other places around Australia and is doing whatever it can to make sure that antisemitism is recognised, investigated and punished. I'm confident in the efforts of the government, and I think that we must all act together on this, as the Australian parliament and a cohesive group, to lead efforts to prevent antisemitism. I'm very proud of what our government is doing, and I'm very proud to be a member of a government that recognises the importance of catching and punishing people who are committing these terrible acts in whatever cause. I thank the Member for Wentworth for bringing her motion. I support it completely, and I thank all those other members who've spoken out against antisemitism. I know that, as a government, we are a cohesive force, and I really do support the efforts of the opposition members who have spoken today as well. It is important that we do act together to get rid of this scourge.

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