Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Antisemitic hate crimes and the recent spate of horrific hatred against Jewish people are deeply concerning. It is appalling, and there should be no place for that kind of hatred in this country—no place for that kind of hatred and racism against anyone living in this country. The Greens and I were calling out racism in all its forms before anyone in here was doing so. We've been calling out right-wing extremism and Neo-Nazism, which are a threat to everyone in this country.

In my first speech in this very chamber, in 2018, I spoke about the threat of rising far-right extremism. We are seeing the consequences of it right here. That threat is converting into antisemitism and Islamophobia. We have seen a rise in hatred against Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians as well. Of course we need to tackle racism and hate, but we need to tackle it at its roots. And you know what? Racism is rooted in the colonisation of this country—the racism that, to this day, is perpetrated against First Nations people.

When we talk about tackling antisemitism or any form of racism, we need to be serious about doing it for every single community that is targeted by racism and hate, whether First Nations people, Jewish people, Muslims—any race, any religion—or LGBTQIA+ people. We need to address all forms of racism and hate.

The Greens have pushed for years. I have to say we are the only party in here that puts a high priority on antiracism, the only party that has an antiracism portfolio. We have pushed for a national antiracism strategy and framework for years, and it is now available for us as a road map. That road map urgently needs to be fully funded and implemented, because that road map talks about so many ways we can implement antiracism in this country; there's not one thing or the other that we need to do. We have to get really serious about tackling hate and racism in this country, and there is a road map right there for us. So I hope everyone in this chamber can support the urgent funding and implementation of the national antiracism portfolio.

The Greens support this motion, but it would have been really good to see an acknowledgement of tackling and condemning all forms of racism in this country, not trying to weaponise antisemitism. We want to make it clear we support this motion—of course we have to tackle antisemitism—but we need to tackle every single form of racism.