Qld open to banning protests outside places of worship in wake of Melbourne synagogue attack

Queensland will follow the lead of New South Wales and ban protesting outside places of worship if those laws are required, the Attorney-General has said.

Queensland will follow the lead of New South Wales and ban protesting outside places of worship if those laws are required, Attorney-General Deb Frecklington has vowed.

It comes after The Sunday Mail revealed Queensland synagogues were placed on high alert and police were working with the local Jewish community in the wake of a firebombing at a Melbourne synagogue on Friday.

Deb Frecklington. Picture David Clark

Ms Frecklington on Monday said bullying and intimidation outside places of worship was unacceptable.

“And if people decided to do that, we’ll throw the full force of the law at it,” she said.

“If those laws aren’t in place, they will be.

“We are looking with great interest in what New South Wales is putting in place.”

The NSW Government, led by Labor Premier Chris Minns, is pursuing “urgent changes” to the law to restrict protests outside places of worship including synagogues, to be modelled on existing legislation which makes rallying outside abortion clinics an offence.

Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg. Picture: Liam Kidston

The move comes after protesters rallied outside Sydney’s Great Synagogue on December 4 which forced the venue into lockdown.

On December 6 the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was firebombed, in what authorities are investigating as an act of terrorism.

Fears of more anti-Semitic hate crimes come as tensions boil over across the country and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blames the Adass Israel synagogue attack on the “extreme anti-Israel position” of the Albanese government.

Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg said he felt a sense of “complete shock and horror” upon hearing of the incident\.

“It wasn’t just an attack on that synagogue in Victoria, it’s an attack on every single Jewish person in Australia – and it’s terror, it’s terrorising for our community,” Mr Steinberg said.

Mr Steinberg said the threat level to local Jewish people has “increased significantly” and in the 24 hours after the firebombing the community had been in contact with police amid fears for their safety.

“Our synagogues are at a heightened level of awareness about what’s going on,” he said on Saturday.

“We’re liaising very closely with the Queensland Police who are tremendously helpful and communicative to us, but it makes people, at an individual level, feel very frightened and scared.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had faced mounting pressure to declare Friday’s firebombing an act of terrorism, with former treasurer and Josh Frydenberg adding to those calls.

Members of the Jewish community remove religious artefacts from the burnt remains of their Synagogue. Picture: NewsWire/ David Caird

On Sunday Mr Albanese said his personal view was that it should be labelled a terrorist act but that there was a technical process for that to happen. Victoria Police on Monday declared the act terrorism.

“We’ve been communicating this and sharing this with the federal government, with state governments, with police authorities since the 7th of October and the aftermath of that, we’ve been sharing that there will be violence against our community unless things are done to stop it, and that’s what we saw on Friday morning,” Mr Frydenberg had said on Saturday.

Prior to the incident, Mr Netanyahu’s office strongly criticised the Albanese government over its lack of support for Israel, suggesting Australia may no longer be a “key ally” of the Jewish state.

While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the act, saying “Anti-Israel sentiment is anti-Semitism”, Mr Steinberg said there should have been “stronger political leadership” on October 8.

“What is clear is that if there was stronger political leadership on the eighth of October, then the … explosion in anti-Semitism would have been a lot less and Australians would understand that we’re not going to permit this to happen in society.”

He went on to say that words are meaningless and it was action the community wanted from the federal government in order to tackle the rising anti-Semitism across the nation.

A Queensland Police spokesperson confirmed they had recently been in contact with Mr Steinberg.

“Queensland Police are always in contact and maintain a strong relationship with the Jewish community.”

Read Jason Steinberg’s full interview in High Steaks