Premier’s message amid fears of anti-semitic vandalism in Qld

Premier David Crisafulli has threatened to come down hard on anti-Semitic behaviour to avoid the violent vandalism experienced in southern states seeping into Queensland.

Members of the Jewish community and Australians rally together in a protest against the string of ongoing anti-Semetic attacks in Sydney. Picture: Thomas Lisson

Premier David Crisafulli has threatened to come down hard on anti-Semitic behaviour to avoid the violent vandalism experienced in southern states seeping into Queensland.

The spate of anti-Semitic incidents reached a new low near 1am on Tuesday when a Marouba childcare centre in Sydney’s east was firebombed and sprayed with hate slurs.

Queensland has escaped the destructive attacks experienced in New South Wales and Victoria, but Jewish community leaders say it could be a matter of time.

The Sydney incident prompted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to convene a meeting of National Cabinet on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the rise in events.

State and territory leaders were briefed by the Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw about the latest intelligence and agreed to establish a national database to track anti-Semitic crime and incidents to track and respond to events.

Mr Crisafulli welcomed the meeting of national cabinet and vowed to step up Queensland’s response if the action of federal, state and territory leaders fell short.

“It’s clear that I’ve been calling this out for some time, and I used one of my first addresses to you to point out how the rise of anti semitic behavior was was ripping down the moral fabric of us as a society, and what I’ve seen unfold has wound the clock back a century on anti semitic behaviour in this country,” he said.

Anti-semitic attack on a Sydney Synagogue. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Bullard.

“My message to national cabinet is we must deal with it in the strongest possible terms and if that body doesn’t then Queensland will.”

Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg warned of an ongoing increase in the number of threats against his community.

“The numbers of incidents we’ve had since the 7th of October have been similar,” he said.

“We’re on the same trajectory - we’ve had graffiti, we’ve had postes, Jewish businesses boycotted, kids abused in schools and people at workplaces.

“The potential for rising and more violent antisematic incidents is there. We hope it doesn’t descend to that but we’re on the same trajectory.”

Mr Albanese convened national cabinet on Tuesday afternoon after resisting Coalition calls to hold one.

“Obviously, like in other places at this time of the year, people have been on leave. I know that the Premier came back, here in NSW. So we’ll have that discussion this afternoon,” he said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the repeated anti-Semitic attacks amounted to a “national crisis”.

“If the Prime Minister thinks that he’s going to get the Australian public off his back and that he’ll have some reprieve from the media by holding this meeting, he doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation,” he said.

“We are having rolling terrorist attacks in our community, and the Prime Minister is being dragged kicking and screaming to hold a meeting of our nation’s leaders.

Mr Steinberg said the issue needed a “strong national response”.

“The Premier has been supportive and has heard our concerns and is working with us but these aren’t just state issues,” he said.