Major plan to tackle Australia’s soaring anti-Semitism crisis
PM Anthony Albanese has a new plan to combat anti-Semitism in the wake of attacks against the Jewish community in Australia. SEE THE FULL REPORT
National
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Foreigners trying to enter Australia would be more strictly screened for antisemitic views or affiliations under a range of stronger measures put forward to address a surge in hate across the country.
Arts bodies and universities also face having their taxpayer funding stripped if they failed to combat antisemitism, Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism Jillian Segal has recommended in a wide-ranging report into the issue released on Thursday.
Anthony Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke stood with Ms Segal for the launch of her plan, with the Prime Minister saying parts of the report would be implemented quickly while others required longer term consideration.
Ms Segal has said she will advocate for the governmetn to screen visa applicants for antisemitic views and work to ensure the Migration Act “effectively facilitates visa refusals or cancellations for antisemitic conduct and rhetoric”.
It is also recommended publicly funded institutions like universities and broadcasters be expected to demonstrate “accountability” in fighting anti-Semitism.
“The Envoy will work with government to enable government funding to be withheld, where possible, from universities, programs or individuals within universities that facilitate, enable or fail to act against antisemitism,” the report said.
Ms Segal has called for sweeping changes to the curriculum from teacher training to student learning to ensure across society people are aware of the “history, harms and modern forms of anti-Semitism”.
The report flagged the need for training for police and judiciary to apply new anti-hate laws and “understand” anti-Semitism.
Ms Segal has also pledged to work with attorneys general around the country to explore strengthening those laws further to capture “actual hatred” spoken or demonstrated.
On withdrawing public funding for institutions that do not adequately address antisemitism, Mr Burke said the measure was already available to the government however the power would be made clearer for decision-makers.
Mr Burke said “you will find we don’t announce the ones we don’t fund”.
“The concept from this report (is) about making sure that that is clearly articulated to the different decision-makers … that (this) is something that is already possible,” he said.
Mr Albanese said the report found antisemitism had risen to “deeply troubling levels” in Australia since the Israel Gaza war, but it also reaffirmed that the issue “didn’t begin on October 7”.
“This is something that government needs to work with civil society on at all levels and each and every day and every week and every month and every year to make sure that antisemitism is pushed to the margins,” the PM said.
“We will now carefully consider the report recommendations.”
Mr Albanese said anti-Israel protest movement sparked by the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza had crossed the line when protesters targeted people for being Jewish.
“Regardless of your views on the Middle East, and there are a range of views across Australian society, put forward those views respectfully, peacefully, orderly,” he said.
“Do not target individuals in the way that it has occurred, and the circumstances where … Jewish students who have been attacked, vilified, abused, because of their identification by someone, by a perpetrator, for being Jewish.”
Ms Segal said her plan was formed to help “combat one of the world’s oldest hatreds, anti-Semitism”.
“As we know, as the Prime Minister said, anti-Semitism is not new and it didn’t start with the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October but we have seen a very troubling, deeply troubling rise in anti-Semitic incidents and behaviour at home since then. In the space of just a year, reported incidents increased over 300 per cent.”
The landmark report comes a year after Ms Segal was appointed and follows two serious incident in Melbourne last week, including a synagogue being set alight while people were inside.
Ms Segal’s recommendations were largely well-received by the Jewish Australian community, with Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion describing it as a “well-considered” plan.
“We call upon all sectors of society, including government, law enforcement, the media, the university sector, education authorities and online platform providers to co-operate with the Special Envoy and the Jewish community to give this action plan full force and effect,” he said.
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler welcomed the “comprehensive and significant report” and said the test would be in its implementation.
“It is essential that these recommendations are enacted swiftly, and consistently by governments and institutions,” he said.
But the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA), which is a pro-Palestinian left-wing group, rejected the plan, warning it risked “undermining Australia’s democratic freedoms, inflaming community divisions and entrenching selective approaches to racism that serve political agendas”.
“This document reads more like a blueprint for silencing dissent rather than a strategy to build inclusion,” JCA executive officer Dr Max Kaiser said.
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Originally published as Major plan to tackle Australia’s soaring anti-Semitism crisis
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