Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Wong) to questions without notice asked by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Senator Cash) and Senator Paterson today relating to antisemitism.

Both are very important questions, and I do want to again reiterate what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of the attack on the Adass synagogue in Melbourne, as was raised by Senator Cash:

Unfortunately, it is impossible to separate this reprehensible act from the extreme anti-Israel position of the Labor government in Australia.

Senator Cash also raised the deep concerns of Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Sharren Haskel, who said in relation to her meeting with Attorney-General Dreyfus:

I expressed to him my disappointment with the shift in the Australian government's attitude towards Israel. I emphasised our deep concern regarding the shocking rise in antisemitism in Australia and the clearly ineffectual response from the Australian government and state governments. There is no doubt this has been caused in part by the Australian government's ongoing campaign against Israel.

This is what it is: an ongoing campaign against Israel, which has fuelled antisemitic hate and division in our country through a weakness of leadership from this weak and incompetent Prime Minister. It is unbelievable that, since 7 October 2023, we have seen our country deteriorate—