Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Who would have thought that here in post World War II Australia—where the Jews came, following the Holocaust and the extermination of six million Jews in Hitler's death camps, a well educated and by those days a modern and Christian nation—we would now see at least the beginnings of that behaviour in Australia. Australia had provided a safe haven for 70-plus years since that time, and now those sentiments of early 1930s Germany seem to have taken root here. It is the thin veneer of civilisation.

I reflect that perhaps the right history isn't being taught to our children at school. But then, when I think about it, I don't think the history of the Holocaust was taught to me at school, either. I was an avid reader as a young man—novels, whatever—and many of the novels of the time were based in the roots of World War II, so we accumulated knowledge about what those death camps were like. I think that's missing from modern culture at the moment. Perhaps this nation needs to turn itself to making sure that our young people know what occurred at that time, and why they should always be on their guard against it. I did wonder, through those years, what was so different to our civilisation compared to that of Germany's—just given a different time and a different place. Don't think for one moment that the terrible outcomes of the Holocaust started at that level. It started at a local level with people taking action against local Jews. It was on a low scale, and then it just grew and became a monster.

It seems that we have now imported the enmities from another hemisphere, but it needs to stop and it needs to stop now. Perhaps there has been an undercurrent of antisemitism in Australia for some time but, prior to 7 October 2023, it was well suppressed. Yet within two days—well before Israel had responded—we saw people demonstrating on the steps of the Opera House, some chanting 'Where are the Jews?', others chanting, 'Gas the Jews'. 'Where are the Jews?' seems like a pretty nonsensical thing to say. But for such a thing to form so quickly and be so ugly, whatever they were chanting, you can be sure it was not complimentary. It is the seed. It's more than the seed; it's the beginnings of rabid antisemitism, and it needs to be stamped out.

Since then, every week we have had demonstrations in the streets and on university campuses. Universities have been an absolute disgrace through this period, seemingly totally incapable of standing up to the hate being preached on their campuses. We've seen security at Jewish schools and members' offices being attacked. This is a democracy—that is simply not permissible. We've seen Jewish property being defaced, Jewish businesses being attacked and the firebombing of a synagogue—what could be a bigger afront to the Jewish community? Then there was the caravan packed with explosives that we still don't know enough about. It's hard not to make those links to 1930s Germany.

This should have been jumped on from week one, and my colleagues have stated the case. We should have had a far stronger reaction to this in Australia in terms of leadership. As the Prime Minister has pointed out, the legal system is taking action against those people who've been perpetrating these views, but we've seen precious little for it. Whether or not the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill is appropriate and whether or not it is the courts that are refusing to actually reach out and reach the kinds of penalties that I think the good people in the street are expecting, I'm not so sure, but that's what is behind the coalition's push to put in mandatory sentencing for acts of terrorism which are characterised under these things.

So, where are the consequences? Last week, I put out an e-newsletter, and one of the things I talked about in the e-newsletter was antisemitism in Australia at the moment. I had a response from woman that was very polite and to the point. She challenged my views on Palestine, and I cannot find myself talking about the subject and these new hate laws without actually making the link between antisemitism and what has been happening with those supporters of Palestine and what's been happening with the Gaza Strip. This is what I responded. I don't normally read my speeches, but I'm sure you'll forgive me for actually going through this letter that sets out what I think:

Bob Hawke is remembered as the one who said "If the bell tolls for Israel, it tolls for all mankind.

I don't profess to be a qualified historian, but generally my reading has led me to conclude the history of Judah and Israel long pre-dates the advent of Islam. For millennia pre-dating Mohammad, Jews, predominated in the area and were dispersed around the world through the later days of the Roman Empire and by local attacks through the middle-ages. In their place Arab tribes became the predominate culture even though a significant Jewish population remained.

The world was collectively horrified by the unbelievable murder of six million Jews under Hitler in WW2 and its aftermath decided to partition British administered Palestine (a consequence of WW1) into two independent states, one Jewish, one Arab. Israel proclaimed its independence under this authority and was immediately attacked by its Arab neighbours and in response expanded its land base to develop buffers.

Other wars have followed, and Israel has always prevailed. I make the point; as long as its neighbours (Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria)—

let's hope things have changed in Syria—

deny its right to exist, the first war Israel loses will be its last.

More wars and interactions have followed, and Israel had taken to developing Jewish settlements in Gaza. In 2005, under a negotiated settlement they completely withdrew and handed control to Fatah. It was all to no avail! Fatah was subsequently defeated by Hamas in an election, a civil war broke out which resulted in Hamas becoming the governing force in Gaza. There has not been an election since!

There hasn't been an election in 20 years.

Hamas totally denies Israel's right to exist and over the next 16 years built a military machine designed to eliminate Israel.

On Oct 7th 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, not on the military establishment, but specifically targeting defenceless civilians at a music festival. Hamas soldiers butchered 1200 civilians including children, they committed despicable crimes of torture, rape and abuse, they then abducted a further 240 defenceless civilians and took them hostage. This was an inhuman act, and they should not have been surprised at Israel's response. What would we expect our government to do if we were attacked in a similar manner?

It is my opinion Hamas wanted a strong response from Israel holding the view they could escalate their action into a wider regional war against Israel. They hold their own people in contempt by hiding their military and its firepower within civilian infrastructure like schools and hospitals. If the completely one-sided votes supported by the Australian government in the UN, calling for an immediate cease-fire and conditional release of hostages and with no guarantees for Israel had been observed, as they called for, Israel would not have incapacitated Hezbollah over the northern border in Lebanon.

Perhaps this time it will allow the Lebanese to take control of their country, not Iran. That would be an excellent outcome and we should all applaud.

During the conflict Iran attacked Israel with 3000 missiles in a day. Israel's response was largely to destroy Iran's air force—that can only be a good thing. Along with the depleting of Hamas these three events led to Iran's inability to protect the murderous Assad regime in Syria and again there, we can only hope his removal will allow for a proper and compassionate government to form, one that does not use chemical and biological weapons against its own people. Once again, we should all applaud.

None of this would have been possible if the Albanese Government had its way in the UN.

And, I add, if we had had an immediate ceasefire with no conditions in favour of Israel. It was a disgraceful position for the government to take.

These changes put forward in this legislation are a step in the right direction. They lower the threshold for criminality. They remove the defence of acting in good faith. They introduce threatening behaviour as an offence. This bill was introduced in September. We are now in February. We have had numerous demonstrations and numerous acts against the Jewish community in that time. What have the government been waiting for? They introduced this legislation in September and knew we would support it, yet here we are debating it in this Chamber five months later.

What counts at the end of the day is that we not only make the changes but also require our courts to give appropriate sentencing. At this stage, I'm not aware of a court in Australia giving the kind of penalty for the behaviour we have seen—I'm not aware of any outcome that would meet my threshold. That's why it's important that we move to mandatory sentencing in this area, because it seems that the judiciary are not up to the fight—or they don't realise the gravity of what is happening here, don't think what is happening in Australia today is so different to what was happening in 1932 and 1933 in Germany or don't think that that thin veneer of civilisation can be stripped away from the most urbane of us. If it could happen there, it can virtually happen anywhere. We need to be on our guard right from the first step and stamp out that kind of behaviour. The legislation is good, although it doesn't go far enough, and, of course, I will support it.

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