We must not allow Charlie Kirk’s death to become our reality
But what is different today is the mainstreaming of political violence. The growing belief in Western liberal democracies that certain political ideas and political personalities pose such a threat that violence is justified.
The murder of Christian conservative Charlie Kirk appears to be the latest tragic example. It follows the recent killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in New York and two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington.
This violent frenzy was a trend Kirk himself had identified, citing a Network Contagion Research Institute survey in a post on X: “Assassination culture is spreading on the left. Forty-eight per cent of liberals say it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk. Fifty-five per cent said the same about Donald Trump.”
But what is also deeply disturbing is that this toxic and dangerous political climate in the US is manifesting itself here in Australia.
Kirk’s death may be an international act but it has domestic implications. It’s our wake-up call.
Just look at the vitriol and the violence in Australia following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. It was previously unthinkable we could see such violent anti-Semitism in our lucky country.
From the destruction of MPs’ offices to the firebombings of childcare centres, synagogues, businesses and Jewish homes, these actions need to be seen as part of a single violent thread – a thread that sees people deny, debate, reject civility and embrace the most violent means.
When we see spontaneous celebrations in western Sydney of the brutal slaughter of 1200 innocents and people march in our streets labelling Jews Nazis and Zionists as terrorists while also calling for the globalisation of the intifada, all without sanction, we are inviting the kind of violence we have seen play out in the US.
It is only a short step from explicitly calling for the death of Jews, as was done by protesters recently on our own Sydney Harbour Bridge, to actually carrying it out. Yet our leaders fail to join the dots and understand the dangerous trajectory we are on.
Expelling the Iranian ambassador for his nefarious activities maybe necessary, but it’s not sufficient. The real danger lies in the rapid radicalisation of our youth.
When an Australian with more than 200,000 followers on social media posts hours after Kirk’s death: “Charlie Kirk was a piece of shit … I will waste no tears nor time on lamenting his demise”, it’s not only horribly offensive, it’s downright dangerous.
When pro-Palestinian protests march on the National Gallery of Victoria and shut it down simply because one of its halls is being named after a generous Australian Jewish philanthropist, again we are well down the slippery slope.
When the gates of Jewish schools are daubed with the words “Jew Die” and Jewish university academics have their offices vandalised and Jewish students are harassed in class, they are just further data points.
It’s all part of a cocktail of hate that is consuming our society. Hate that is being enabled by those who should know better but simply turn the other way.
How else could one explain the behaviour of a leading vice-chancellor defending their students’ public support for Hamas as simply an expression of academic freedom?
As ASIO director-general of security Mike Burgess has warned, words matter, and it’s not long before dangerous words become dangerous deeds.
Of course, it’s not just on the political left the violence is occurring but on the far right, too.
Nazi sympathisers gathering on the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House and recently hijacking an otherwise peaceful demonstration are cases in point.
Unchallenged, these groups will only grow in size, capitalising on the vulnerable and their resentment with the status quo. What we need is stronger action. We need leaders who see these issues as binary. We either are safe or we are not. We are either advancing social cohesion or we are not.
No more on the one hand this and on the other hand that. The situation is too dangerous for equivocation. There can be no more tolerance for the intolerable.
When I interviewed Anthony Albanese for my Sky News documentary Never Again: The Fight Against Antisemitism, he lamented the pro-Palestinian protesters who were camped outside his electorate office harassing his staff and preventing them from serving constituents.
I thought to myself: you are the Prime Minister, if you won’t do something about it what hope do the rest of us have?
Likewise, when university leaders complained about the radical elements on campus setting up encampments and leaving students fearful for their safety, I said to them: “Well, you’re the vice-chancellor, do something.” After all, it is they who are responsible for the running of the university and guaranteeing student safety.
We need leaders who don’t just want the job but want to do the job. They have the powers, they just the need the will to exercise it.
Kirk devoted himself to the battle of ideas and for that he tragically paid with his life. It is the latest major warning to us all.
Australia must move quickly and more effectively to counter the hotbed of hate in our own society before we experience the logical violent extension of that hate that has played out so sadly in the US.
It’s now up to our leaders here in Australia, political and civil, to ensure Kirk’s death does not become our new reality.
Josh Frydenberg is the former federal treasurer. He was awarded The Australian’s 2024 Australian of the Year for his fight against anti-Semitism.
Pact to make nation more secure
Political violence is not new. In the 1960s, US president John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King all died from an assassin’s bullet.