Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think we can all agree that the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas was not only a tragedy but a stark reminder of the fragility of peace and the price of freedom. Events like these shake us to our core, reminding us that freedom and security do not come by accident—nor are they guaranteed. Just as Australia cherishes its own freedoms, we are reminded today that we must make active choices to defend these values, not just within our borders but also by standing with our allies.

The world saw, on that terrible day just over 12 months ago, the dangers posed by those who seek to undermine peace through terror. October 7 was the single deadliest day for Israelis and Jews since the Holocaust. Let us be clear about the horrors that unfolded on that day. As dawn broke and some families slept in their rooms, the terrorist group Hamas brutally and indiscriminately slaughtered more than 1,200 innocent men, women and children. The attack was deliberate, calculating, and resembled evil that the world has seen raised too often against this Jewish homeland. They were burned, shot and tortured in their homes, at the music festival, during a morning walk, all while desperately trying to escape their attackers. Hamas perpetuated violence upon the State of Israel.

This senseless murder of innocent lives was not the only thing to occur. Over 250 people were ripped from their family's homes and from friends and taken into Gaza as civilian hostages, as human shields. These hostages represent over two dozen nationalities and include Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and indeed atheists. Their only crime, according to Hamas, was being a member of the Jewish state. Today, 366 days later, 101 hostages remain in Gaza, and their fate and condition are still unknown. When evil strikes, it's not time to be hesitant, manoeuvre or be ambiguous. When evil strikes, it's not a time for moral indecision. In each generation, evil has a name. In this generation, that name is Hamas.

Since the October 7 attacks, we've seen a fresh wave of antisemitism crash on our shores. It took less than two days, following the attacks, for that to rise to the surface here in Australia. The disturbing surge of hatred on the steps of the Sydney Opera House on 9 October was astounding. Australia watched on as pro-Palestine protesters gathered, in full view of a large police presence, and openly chanted, 'Gas the Jews,' yet not a single person was arrested for hate speech or incitement to violence. Across university campuses, this antisemitism escalated, with regular pro-Palestinian marches. Protesters waved Hamas flags and organised demonstrations filled with anti-Zionist and antisemitic banners, placards and rhetoric.

Eighty years on from the world's worst demonstration of organised antisemitism, we are today seeing an uncanny resemblance in our own city streets. We've learnt that Jewish students and lecturers are being harassed at their university campuses and in their workplaces. University authorities are failing to take decisive action to address the rising wave of hatred.

At Senate estimates earlier this year, we heard of what was going on at our university campuses. I personally met with some of the students that came to see me here in this place, and they told me the tale of what is going on at their university campus, just a few kilometres away from this building here, at ANU. The remarkable thing about their story was that they were putting up with these taunts and these racial vilifying comments by the people that were encamped there at ANU. They were putting up with it not just at their university campus but at their home, because these were residential students having to deal with this at their own place of accommodation. They couldn't escape it. They weren't just exposed to it when they had their contact hours. They were living with it every single day and dealing with the fear of being targeted in the way that they were.

In Senate estimates, we had the ANU vice-chancellor in front of us, and there were, no doubt, very sincere platitudes given in regard to the fact that care, love and nurturing is provided to all students. But, while those students who were in the public gallery sat there—and I was watching them as answers were given by people at the table—they were hanging their heads and shaking their heads because they know that there is not enough that's being done to stamp out the racism, to stamp out this atrocious activity that's occurring there on their campus.

More needs to be done. Jewish Australians no longer feel safe in their homes, their places of worship or in an education setting. The antisemitism to which we had once said 'never again' has raised its ugly head from our own soil. One year on, the hostile antisemitic fog continues to hover over this nation. As thousands have poured into the streets in solidarity with terrorist groups, the leader of this nation has been painfully slow to act. The pleas from Jewish Australians have been met with little more than a special envoy appointment by the Prime Minister. The Labor Party is a shadow from former prime minister Bob Hawke's warning. If the bell tolls for Israel, he said, it won't just toll for Israel; it will toll for all mankind. Led by a prime minister that continues to toe the line and a foreign minister that chooses to pander to pro-Palestinian activists, the proverbial bell has tolled on the deaf ears of the Australian Labor Party.

The recent inquiry into the rise of antisemitism shows that Jewish Australians are suffering the consequences of this government's approach. One submission for the Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024 (No. 2) said:

I am a Jewish Australian, born and raised in Western Australia (WA)—

my home state—

and have lived here with my family for 65 years. I am deeply concerned about the rise of anti-Semitism in Australia and globally. My greatest concern is the lack of strong leadership from those in positions of power and authority in Australia. These leaders often appear reluctant to take decisive action against anti-Semitism, possibly to avoid offending the larger Muslim community and risking their political support.

The author of this submission is not alone in this concern. I think they've nailed it—absolutely nailed it. It's exactly why, and it's exactly what's going on. In this Prime Minister, we do not have a leader who will stand firm in the face of adversity; we have a crowd-pleaser who is at the beck and call of applause.

Someone who deeply understood the cost of standing up for freedom was the German theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Known for his resistance to the Nazi regime during World War II, Bonhoeffer was imprisoned and eventually executed for his defiance. In his most influential work, The Cost of Discipleship, he introduced the concept of cheap grace, a grace that demands nothing from the believer and requires no sacrifice. In the same way, we must ensure that our commitment to freedom is not reduced to cheap freedom. True freedom, as Bonhoeffer's idea of costly grace suggests, comes at a price, demanding vigilance, accountability and sometimes profound sacrifice. This is the very lesson we are reminded of today.

As we reflect on the brutal violence inflicted upon Israel, we cannot afford to take our own freedoms for granted nor can we expect to endure without our active defence. The freedoms we enjoy here in Australia, like freedoms of speech, assembly and religion, are invaluable but require a commitment to stand against those who would harm them, whether at home or, indeed, abroad. As Australians, we know that we have been fortunate, blessed even, to live in a country where peace and democracy prevail. Like Israel, we too must be ready to defend these blessings, knowing that they are not guaranteed and that real freedom always comes at a cost.

In closing, when laying the cornerstone of the future site of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in October 1988, President Ronald Reagan said:

We must make sure that from now until the end of days all humankind stares this evil in the face, that all humankind knows what this evil looks like and how it came to be. And when we truly know it for what it was, then and only then can we be sure that it will never come again.

Well, evil visited the nation of Israel on October 7 and we are now all too familiar with what evil looks like. As conflict rages on and as Israel fights to defend itself against the terrorist groups in the region, we know what evil looks like. The State of Israel suffered a grievous blow on that day. We refuse to forget the crime on humanity that was October 7, irrespective of left-wing ideology or rhetoric. On this one-year anniversary, I lend my prayers to the men, the women and the children of Israel and to the Australian families whose grief cannot be consoled. As they have done for centuries, the Jewish people will demonstrate their resilience, and I have no doubt that they will continue to prevail.