Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for Mallee on the fine speech that she's just given. I support the remarks that she's made.

Both sides of this House agree that our country is facing significant challenges when it comes to antisemitism and the breakdown in social cohesion. The Director-General of Security, in his 2024 threat assessment, warned the country of this growing threat. The previous coalition government invested in efforts to counter violent extremism and address the root causes and vehicles of radicalisation with strong leadership on online safety, education and mental health care.

What was Labor's response? What has been this government's response? Their response has been a divisive, race based referendum, funding for divisive organisations and a systematic campaign against Israel and the Jewish people. They have, however, created a position of the Special Envoy for Social Cohesion. Now, I've got nothing against the member for Wills—the member for Wills is a good bloke—but, in this position, this is typical of what this Prime Minister does: a bit of wallpaper, a fresh coat of paint and there's nothing to see here. He does these things. He creates positions like the Special Envoy for Social Cohesion to make out as though he's actually doing something when he's doing nothing, or, worse, when he's actually making the problem worse by his actions and his inactions.

The Attorney-General said that this Labor government is committed to the safety and security of the community. Tell that to the people of Alice Springs; tell that to the Australian Border Force; tell that to victims of knife crime, child exploitation and domestic violence, who are paying the price for Labor's careless cuts and clueless government; tell that to Jewish students; tell that to the Jewish community who frequent synagogues; tell that to Jewish shopowners across the country.

In introducing this bill, the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024, the member for Isaacs said:

No-one in Australia should be targeted because of who they are or what they believe.

That goes to the heart of this issue. The reality is that Australia is facing an antisemitism crisis in which Jewish people and the Israeli diaspora are targeted because of who they are. They are targeted online and in the street through doxxing and abuse simply because of where they come from or what they believe. This is Australia in 2025.

Mr Deputy Speaker Wilkie, I'm going to hazard a guess that neither you nor I—certainly not I—would have thought even two years ago that we would be here where we are today. Scratch that very thin veneer and what we are seeing today is the worst kind of racial vilification—the oldest kind of racial vilification. It is up to every member of this House and the Senate, all leaders in the community across the states and territories and, in fact, every single Australian to call out antisemitism when and as we see it.

Currently, the government is using the tactic that the opposition are somehow politicising this issue, but nothing could be further from the truth. What are the opposition to do when they see a total fundamental failure on the part of government in relation to its policies? Should the opposition just say: 'Well, we don't want to politicise this. We don't want to create an issue here. We don't want to draw any attention to the failure of government'? No. It's up to every single Australian to call out the failures of this government—and they are. This is not a Jewish problem; this is a problem that is impacting 27 million Australians.

I have a very small Jewish community in my electorate. Whilst the Jewish community is growing, the Sunshine Coast has reportedly around a thousand Jewish people. It's very small, but I have people—everyday ordinary Australians; non-Jewish people—coming to me, stopping me in the street and saying: 'What is happening to Jews in Australia is unforgiveable. This is not the Australia that we know and love.' The crazies on the far left and the crazies on the far right seem to have created this confluence of unforgiveable behaviour, and it is up to every single Australian to call it out as we see it.

This hate speech—this hate—has a new lick of paint and has rebranded, and it's a campaign that is called 'Zionism'. But, make no mistake, they are the same ancient tropes, lies and attitudes that have been repackaged to attack the Jewish people as they have for thousands of years. I think we need to be really clear about what Zionism is and give clarity to its definition, which this legislation is supposed to provide after all. UK TV personality and Holocaust educator Rachel Riley put it really well. She said:

Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own country.

She continued:

Anti-Zionism, in its proper def'n says that Jews, alone in the world, should not have their own nation state.

Let's look at what this anti-Jewish hate, by its many names, has led to in this country since the October 7 attacks. Stores run by Jewish people have been vandalised. Nazi symbols and antisemitic vandalism have been spray painted and carved into public spaces, including in Sippy Downs and Birtinya in my own community and right outside my office. Violent protests have spread from national monuments to regional towns, replete with terrorist slogans, the flags of hate groups and the portraits of dictators. School students, university students and academics have been targeted through protests, encampments, discrimination and hate filled conferences, including at local schools and at my own alma mater, QUT. I recently called on the education minister to stop funding QUT until an investigation was done on their actions in the most heinous conference, which was supposed to drive social cohesion—absolutely disgraceful. Not only should the people that ran and spoke at that conference be condemned; the leadership of QUT, where I did my law degree, should be condemned. This government needs to muscle up, put its money where its mouth is and start taking action against organisations that drive antisemitism, like the Queensland University of Technology.

Last year, we saw the Adass Israel synagogue firebombed in Melbourne, in scenes that were reminiscent of the Kristallnacht in November 1938. This year, unforgivably, a childcare centre in Sydney near a Jewish school and synagogue was torched. That childcare centre was not Jewish run. It just happened to be near a synagogue and a Jewish school. Thanks to the efforts of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, a catastrophic terror attack was prevented in Sydney last week. That terrorist attack had the potential to be the worst domestic terrorism event in Australian history. Reportedly, there were enough explosives for there to have been a 40-metre blast zone—almost the length of a 50-metre Olympic swimming pool. Inside that caravan was a list of Jewish synagogues and sites. I do congratulate Chris Minns and the New South Wales police force on their work in relation to this, but our political leadership and our senior police and law enforcement agencies' leadership has been left wanting. It has been left wanting since October 9, when we saw those disgraceful scenes on the steps of Sydney Opera House. Those scenes were left unchecked. And when these things are left unchecked, it becomes a progressive series of events where people think they can get away with something, and they'll keep pushing the envelope—pushing, pushing, pushing—until we start to see the firebombing of synagogues and childcare centres. There is a very real risk that someone will be killed as a result of these appalling antisemitic actions.

It's all very well and good for the Prime Minister to make mealy-mouthed comments, but what we have seen is a systemic attack on Israel and the Jewish people which has fuelled antisemitism in Australia. The government can't have it both ways. The Prime Minister can't stand up and say he's doing all these wonderful things and then lead the charge in the United Nations against Israel. That is unacceptable. Israel is our ally. It is the only democracy in the Middle East, and the Australian government has abandoned Israel. We are seeing insidious Neo-Nazi extremism moving from the dark recesses of the internet onto regularly used apps, web platforms and indeed our streets. I think that, above all things, this is a crisis in leadership from a government which has, as I said, systematically campaigned against Israel and the Jewish people.

Alongside the Leader of the Opposition, the shadow foreign minister and my good friend the member for Berowra, I outlined yesterday many of Labor's failures. I note that, in his second reading speech, the Attorney-General only referenced antisemitism once and only in tandem with Islamophobia. For many months Labor ministers have proved incapable of acknowledging the scourge of domestic antisemitism without mentioning Islamophobia, as if one somehow offsets the other. Yes, people of all faiths are contending with the rise in extremism. The Islamic community, the Christian community, Hindus, Sikhs and minority faith groups are all paying the price for Labor's social cohesion crisis. This legislation is an important step forward, but it is too little, too late. That should be the slogan of Labor's approach in office: too little, too late. (Time expired)

See this speech in context