Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024. According to the explanatory memorandum, this bill establishes a commission of inquiry with identical powers to those of a royal commission. The commission would look solely at instances of antisemitism on Australian university campuses. It would not examine instances of Islamophobia or other forms of discrimination. Of course, it wouldn't be a Liberal Party bill if there wasn't an attack on unions as well. As the explanatory memorandum states explicitly, this bill empowers the commission to investigate the National Union of Students and the National Tertiary Education Union. Those two unions are mentioned by name. Others that are mentioned throughout the bill are Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the National Socialist Order. They are the only groups Senator Henderson has mentioned by name in the explanatory memorandum. It's pretty extraordinary, isn't it? The explicit attack on unions in the bill further fundamentally undermines the integrity of the bill as a whole.

Before I go any further into the bill I should acknowledge the context surrounding this debate—the horrific attacks carried out by Hamas on 7 October that resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people and the subsequent Israeli invasion of Gaza, for which the latest death count stands at around 37,000 people. Any loss of life, whether Israeli or Palestinian, is a tragedy. That's why the Albanese government has consistently called for a ceasefire and continues to do so. That is why we continue to call for civilians to be protected for humanitarian aid to reach Gazans who are in desperate need and for hostages to be released. And that is why Australia supported the ceasefire endorsed by the UN Security Council and wants to see it fully implemented by both parties.

Coming back to the question of protests on university campuses and this bill, there is no place for hatred or discrimination in this country, whether it's antisemitism, Islamophobia or any other despicable form of racism. When it comes to our universities, there is nothing more important than the safety and wellbeing of students and staff. Of course, students and staff have the right to go about campus without fear of abuse, but another part of protecting the wellbeing of students and staff is upholding their fundamental human rights, and one of those rights is the right of freedom of speech, freedom of political expression and freedom of protest. That speech cannot be hateful, and protests must be peaceful. But balancing these competing rights—the right to safe and peaceful enjoyment of the campus and the right to protest—is not always easy. Our priority in dealing with this question has always been to prioritise social cohesion and community safety.

It is clear that there are genuine concerns held by some Jewish students about the way that protests on campus have unfolded. It is also clear that, while many protests have been peaceful, there have been publicly reported incidents of clearly unacceptable behaviour. So it's essential that the government and universities respond in an appropriate manner, and that's what we have actually done.

The government has announced an inquiry into antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism and the experience of Indigenous people at our universities, to be undertaken by the Race Discrimination Commissioner. It is appropriate that this work be led by the Human Rights Commissioner and the Race Discrimination Commissioner, who are leading experts in this field. The government has provided $2.5 million in funding to ensure the investigation is comprehensive. This follows on from the groundbreaking work of the then Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, whose investigation into sexual violence occurring in our universities led to the establishment of the National Student Ombudsman. Additionally, the Attorney-General has announced he will bring legislation to create new criminal offences and strengthen existing laws against hate speech.

On top of the government's actions, universities themselves have codes of conduct. As we heard at the Senate estimates just three weeks ago, these are being enforced, including at the Australian National University here in Canberra, whose vice-chancellor, Professor Bell, told the Education and Employment Legislation Committee:

ANU has initiated disciplinary action under our disciplinary rules against 10 students in relation to protest activities associated with the Middle East conflict.

…   …   …

Five of those have had decisions rendered. Two of those decisions included exclusions from our campus …

On top of the universities' own enforcement actions, the regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, has stood up a regulatory response team to proactively monitor the actions that universities take. These are proportionate responses to ensure that we protect the right to peaceful protest but also ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students and staff on campuses.

To accuse every student or staff member participating in a protest of being antisemitic, as some have suggested, does nothing to move towards a solution or to support social cohesion. It's cheap and it's easy, but it's not right, and it would set a very troubling precedent. But there have been unacceptable cases that have no place in campuses or anywhere else in Australia. In May it was publicly reported that a student at the Australian National University had allegedly made Nazi gestures during a student meeting. The Vice President of the Australian Union of Jewish students has said:

Students are afraid to go to class, they're missing lectures and tutorials … They're being filmed, followed, intimidated.

It's essential that these reports be thoroughly investigated, which is what is being done by the universities themselves and will also be picked up by the investigations by the Race Discrimination Commissioner. I would also wholeheartedly say that those matters should be handled by the appropriate authorities, including police. There's also been a troubling rise in antisemitic incidents in other settings, including an antisemitic graffiti attack on Mount Scopus Memorial College in Melbourne in May. This is, of course, absolutely unacceptable and is being investigated by the Victoria police.

When we talk about incitement to violence, which is unacceptable in any context, we should also consider the impact of the commentary that has surrounded these protests. On 8 May the Guardian reported on student protests at Monash University being physically assaulted: 'During the first incident a dozen men entered the campsites, smashing a marquee, taking food and shaking students tents. Four days later, many of the same people—middle-aged men from outside the university—again attended the camp.' The Guardian reported that, in another incident, a student from the campus forcibly entered the encampment and physically assaulted one student protester and that, in another incident, the same man entered this camp with the support of a few dozen counterprotesters who repeatedly threatened to bash members of the camp.

So it's important that we remember that our words matter. There are many people who have made strong statements about the importance of freedom of speech on campuses, and one statement I agree with said:

Academic freedom is a fundamental foundational principle of a university. It protects the rights of academics and students to engage in free, robust speech which is vital to critical thinking and the development of new ideas.

The role of all educational institutions in our democracy is to teach Australians how to think, not what to think. Learning environments should present a balance of all arguments.

The statement also said, 'I trust universities will honour their promise to facilitate an informed public debate and not influence academics and students which would seriously compromise academic freedom and freedom of speech. Academics who don't believe in free speech have no place in Australian universities.' The statement was made by Senator Henderson in March last year when she was criticising the University of Melbourne executive over their support for the Voice to Parliament. I hope that Senator Henderson would also apply those same principles when it's a speech on campus she doesn't agree with.

Coming back to this bill, as I said earlier, it is clear that there are Jewish students who have been the victims of unacceptable incidents of antisemitism. This bill purports to investigate those experiences. But it's notable that the bill stops there and does not seek to investigate other forms of discrimination that are equally linked to the conflict in Gaza. The word 'Islamophobia' does not make it into the bill or the explanatory memorandum. The way it's drafted leads you to believe that a recent increase in antisemitism has occurred in a vacuum and that there is no corresponding increase in Islamophobia that needs to be addressed. Indeed, the author of the bill believes just that.

On 28 May Senator Henderson was interviewed on ABC Radio Canberra, and I will read the exchange to make it clear that I'm not selectively quoting:

ABC host: Are you also proposing identical action to students who might commit acts of Islamophobia?

Senator Henderson: No, we're not. We are proposing that … because, frankly, there is no issue with Islamophobia.

ABC host: Sorry no issue on university campuses or in society with Islamophobia?

Senator Henderson: No, there is no issue with Islamophobia.

A few days later on 31 May, Senator Henderson took an opportunity to clarify these remarks during the Human Rights Commission appearance at Senate estimates. She said, 'When I was asked about Islamophobia, I said "No, that is not an issue."' She went on to clarify that what she was really meant was, 'It was not an issue in the context of what is currently happening on university campuses.'

This is a very serious issue, and I know Senator Henderson agrees. because she is so concerned about antisemitism on campuses that she has introduced a bill to establish what is effectively a royal commission on the matter. So, surely, before she repeatedly makes the comment that Islamophobia is not an issue in the context of what is happening on our university campuses, she would have verified whether or not that is true. There is an organisation dedicated to monitoring Islamophobia in Australia called Islamophobia Register Australia. Four days before Senator Henderson's radio appearance, they put out a media release revealing that, since October 7, there has been a 39-fold increase in reported incidents of Islamophobia on university campuses. Words matter. When you repeatedly make the statement that this is not an issue, just days after a 39-fold increase is announced, what are you saying to the Australian Muslim community? The statement goes on to say:

One such incident occurred at a university food court in NSW where a group of Muslim female students wearing hijabs were reportedly called "terrorists" by a group of male students.

It goes on further to say:

In an incident earlier this week, a Muslim male was physically assaulted … when he attempted to prevent a hijab wearing female from being recorded without her consent.

It begs the question: why does this bill intentionally exclude any consideration of the 39-fold increase in these sorts of attacks? I don't see how this furthers the cause of social cohesion on campuses or across our communities.

The enforcement action being taken by universities against breaches of their codes of conduct covers all forms of unacceptable hatred, as does the investigation being undertaken by the Race Discrimination Commissioner and funded by the Australian government. These investigations, as we know, will examine antisemitic incidents on campuses, which, I'll make clear again, are absolutely unacceptable. There is no place for antisemitism on campuses or anywhere else in Australia. There is no room for any form of discrimination or incitement to violence or hatred on campuses or anywhere else in Australia.

The government is taking action. Universities are taking action. The police are taking action. And, unfortunately, this bill falls short.