Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I note in Senator Cash's contribution on the Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024 her frequent expression of her sadness about a number of matters. The greatest sadness that could sit on this nation's soul at this time is if these fundamental issues of the dignity of each human person are colonised by one part of the parliament. Any sadness that I have will be exacerbated by determination, particularly by those opposite, to pretend there is only one party that will be the champion of freedom, respect and dignity for every Australian. I hope my sadness doesn't increase because of ill-advised political action by any party of this parliament that is not driven towards peace but rather towards adversarial comment and the damage that ensues in our society.

In August 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, white supremacists protesting the removal of a statue of the Confederate general Robert E Lee marched openly in the streets with torches, chanting, 'Jews will not replace us,' and raising their hands to perform that horrific Nazi salute with which too many people are familiar. This was a dangerous allusion to the torchlight parades of Nazi Germany. Fire was more than a flare. It signalled violence and destruction. The Nazi regime began by carrying their torches at parades and rallies. Fire then turned to synagogues and Torah scrolls. Ultimately, that fire then turned to the burnt bodies of millions of human souls.

In March 2023, in Melbourne, about 30 individuals from the Neo-Nazi National Socialist Network dressed in black and, mostly with their faces covered, performed Nazi salutes and held up offensive materials on Spring Street. The reality is, my fellow Australians, that Nazism and antisemitism did not die after the destruction of the gas chambers. It has continued, and this ancient evil still exists today. And, sadly, it is alive and well in our nation.

The history of the mass killing of the Jewish people in the Second World War is why the State of Israel exists today. It was that realisation of a Jewish longing for self-determination, for a homeland, for a place that connected them to their history and their connection to land. That is why I am a Zionist. I believe in the right for the State of Israel to exist alongside a free and democratic state of Palestine. That is the two-state solution. It is one for which we have had unanimous support, but, sadly, for personal political gain, we have seen at the edges people in this very building pulling at the fabric that is necessary to build peace and hope in the Middle East. We are not going to solve the crisis of the Middle East from this chamber or on the streets of Australia. We can with others, in a careful and considered way, push for peace at every opportunity.

Sadly, we have seen too much hate already in this country, fanning the flames of division in an unnecessary and unedifying way, taking away from the dignity of this place and taking away from the opportunity for us to be a leading voice, as we are around the world in so many places of conflict. We need to attend to our own housekeeping here and to be clear that we will not stomach any violence towards any Australian of any faith or of no faith at any time.

I accept the legitimacy of the State of Israel. It is a vital place in the region for the refuge of the Jewish people. It is not exclusive. Let me state this again: it is not exclusive of a separate democratic Palestinian state, which I continue to believe is necessary for a two-state solution, and I hope that that will be achieved to give peace to the people whose lives are so maligned by the current situation.

October 7 stands not only as a travesty of humanity but also as the largest massacre of Jewish people since the Second World War. Hamas slaughtered and tortured countless men and women. Many who were not killed were callously taken hostage, and that brutality and its consequences continue today. It was brutal and it was inhumane, and I say: free the hostages. I am also deeply saddened that this event on October 7 did not mark the end of civilian deaths, with so many innocent Palestinians dying as a result of the emerging conflict driven by the hate filled Hamas. Let me say, colleagues: innocence has no nationality, no creed, no ethnicity, and I mourn every death in conflict, whether Palestinian or Israeli.

For Australian Jews, they have witnessed a change from a steady uptick to a significant surge in antisemitism. While it clearly was an issue of immediate significance, October 7 also saw a major change in how Australian Jews, our fellow Australians, viewed their own safety in the world they inhabit here. Immediate reporting from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry showed a 738 per cent uptick in antisemitic incidents. In suburbs in Melbourne frequented by members of the Jewish community, they are walking down the streets in 2024 seeing signs that read: 'Kill Jews. Jews live here.' I am outraged, I am disgusted and I am in disbelief that there are people in our country who would believe that that could ever possibly be something that could be endorsed, condoned or accepted. This is the terrifying threat to an often persecuted people who have considered Australia, until recent times, as a nation of safe harbour. Graffiti in Sydney—lest we consider this just a Melbourne issue—read: 'Bring back Hitler. Finish the job.' This is a shameless call by weak, insipid, dark, hateful characters who have malign intent. A call for the extermination of the Jewish people shows that licence taken from Hamas after October 7 is having a real and, importantly, dangerous impact on our society here.

Many might not be aware, but Australia is home to one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors and their descendants outside Israel, and I'm very pleased that it was an Australian Labor member who absolutely advocated for a place of refuge for the Jewish people. For me it's inconceivable to think about how Australian Jewish people might feel seeing the Jewish day school Mount Scopus Memorial College, in Melbourne, graffitied with 'Jew die'. Make no mistake, this is not political commentary. All Australians have a duty to care, to protect our survivors and to ensure that they never again have to experience the horrors that so many of them have already endured. 'Never again' is the phrase at Yad Vashem. It's a duty that I take on my shoulders with my colleagues in the Labor Party, falling into my deep sense of pursuing social justice and promoting humanity over darkness.

In my role as the chair of the Israel parliamentary network, I, alongside Senator David Fawcett, have met many community members who have, since October 7, felt fear, despair and a yearning for peace. Last year I hosted a group of family and friends of the victims of October 7. They flanked Senator Fawcett and me as a bipartisan, indeed a multipartisan, group of parliamentarians listened deeply to their stories of grief and despair. We heard from mother Tali Kizhner, who spoke of her son Segev, 22, murdered by Hamas militants at the now infamous Supernova music festival. I listened as mother Iris Haim spoke of the kidnapping of her son Yotam, 28, from their home in a border community. Yotam very tragically was killed in a case of misidentification. Sister Mika Shani spoke of her brother Amit, 16, being kidnapped from their home, with Mika and her parents only spared due to the Hamas vehicle being too small to take any more of their family. Mika personally phoned me just a few days later to say that Amit had been freed during a brief pause in conflict. I hope that that pause in the conflict and movement to peace is repeated at the earliest possible opportunity and that all the remaining hostages are freed and returned to their families.

I was joined in that by members across the chamber—Labor, Liberal, National, Independent—including Zoe Daniel, Allegra Spender, Senator Dean Smith, Terry Young, Andrew Hastie and my fellow Labor colleagues Josh Burns, Mark Dreyfus, Senator Polley and David Smith. Outrage doesn't have a political colour. Outrage is shared across this parliament. And we must continue that outrage in unity. Antisemitism has a collective currency in this place. It is certainly not solely owned by the Liberal and National parties.

Earlier this year I also hosted the United States Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Aaron Keyak, for a briefing on the state of international antisemitism and a discussion of what Australia can do to join with like-minded partners to counter this ancient evil. Again on that occasion I was joined by like-minded partners from across the party divide. I was joined by Assistant Minister Watts, Senator Jacqui Lambie, who I know is going to make a contribution very shortly, Mr Rowan Ramsey and Ms Ananda-Rajah. Xenophobia can only be countered through cooperation and consistent effort.

That is why I take issue with what is happening here this morning in this particular form. All too obviously this seems to be a Liberal-National attempt at politicisation of this fundamentally vital and important issue. Senator Henderson, at the very best, could be conceived of as attempting to bring the issue of antisemitism to the fore. That is why I am participating. But this device of a private senator's bill is sadly misunderstood by many in the community. If you're really interested in what is being attempted here, have a look at, review and understand what's happened to any of these private senators' bills. That being said, I hope that, as we move forward, there can be an avoidance of the grandstanding and politicking that has so diminished the debate of this particular critical matter for Australians' safety. Private senators' bills are known on both sides of this chamber as an issue-raising endeavour but hardly an instrument to bring change.

I say with conscience that I take antisemitism very, very seriously. The Labor Party is intensely focused on its eradication. Indeed we have three Jewish members of our parliament who are Labor people, including a senior member of the cabinet, the Attorney-General. The Liberal Party, the National Party—every party knows who I am. They know how many times I've stood on this. They know my beliefs, including the belief in a two-state solution, and those of all my Labor colleagues, who abhor xenophobia and hate in all its forms.

I want to indicate that the government will be supporting the referral of this bill— (Time expired)