NSW police taskforce doubled after anti-Semitic ‘scumbags’ torch Sydney childcare centre

NSW police have doubled the number of detectives on the hate crimes taskforce after ‘scumbags’ firebombed and vandalised a childcare centre in Sydney.

The Only About Children childcare centre in Maroubra was firebombed on Tuesday.

NSW police have doubled the number of detectives on its hate crimes taskforce after a childcare centre was firebombed and vandalised in Sydney’s latest anti-­Semitic attack on Tuesday.

The attack on Maroubra’s Only About Children daycare – the second firebombing in the eastern suburbs in less than a week – prompted Anthony Albanese to convene a national cabinet to address the crisis, as NSW Premier Chris Minns slammed the “bastards” who had plunged to new “lows”.

On Tuesday evening, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb announced she had allocated Strike Force Pearl, the unit investigating the hate attacks, a further 20 investigators, effectively doubling its staff-power.

“This boost in resources reflects the seriousness of these crimes and the importance of putting those responsible before the courts as soon as possible,” she said.

Operation Shelter, the NSW police taskforce to protect communities amid fraying social cohesion, has also increased high-visibility patrols around suburbs of concern and places of worship, conducting more than 300 in the past 24 hours alone.

Speaking in Sydney after inspecting the scene, the Prime Minister slammed the “despicable and horrifying crime” and said the attack would “lead to action”.

Mr Minns said civic society “stood together to condemn” the incident. “It is completely disgusting, and these bastards will be rounded up by NSW police.”

The daycare centre is not run or owned by members of the Jewish community but is about 100m from Maroubra Synagogue.

One neighbour opposite the centre, who declined to give her name citing safety concerns, said she woke to “the loudest blast”, believing the noise to be “gunshots from a gang fight”.

“I thought somebody had broken in and shot my mother because she woke screaming,” the woman said.

Anthony Albanese, centre, and Chris Minns attend the scene on Tuesday morning. Picture: Julian Andrews

“But then we saw the smoke come out (from the centre).”

The centre was set alight about 1am on Tuesday with emergency services rushing to the scene to extinguish the flames. Extensive damage was caused to the ground floor but the property was unoccupied at the time.

The attack is Sydney’s second anti-Semitic firebombing strike in less than a week. Jewish Maroubra resident Ben Klein called the latest incident “completely uncivil”.

“There is a complete lack of respect for Australian values, social cohesion and civil society,” he said.

“A childcare centre? How low can they go?”

Neighbours also said the centre’s exterior walls were once adorned with “bring them home posters”, which showed images of hostages kidnapped by Hamas, ­although they were not put up or endorsed by the centre but by community members.

A Maroubra Synagogue spokeswoman said the rise in anti-Semitism was a “scourge on the Australian way of life”, saying it would offer their support to the daycare.

“We will not be deterred by this act of violence and we will not be intimidated by those who are feeding off creating fear,” she said.

An emergency service investigator attends Maroubra’s Only About Children centre, which was torched in an overnight attack.

Education Minister Jason Clare vowed to split any additional costs of the centre’s rebuild that wasn’t covered by insurance on a 50-50 basis with the state government, asking which “sort of scumbag” would attack a childcare centre.

“You’ve really got to ask yourself that question,” he said, declaring a childcare subsidy period of emergency for the centre, which means it would continue to receive government funding while closed. The government will also waive the gap fee that parents pay.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s legal head, Simone Abel, said the attack was “no doubt” a case of mistaken identity with the nearby synagogue, saying it should be a “wake-up call” that anti-Semitism affected everyone.

Only About Children chief executive Anna Learmonth said she and her staff were “shocked and horrified”, adding that their priority was ensuring the children’s safety.

The NSW Faith Affairs Council called the targeting of a childcare centre “horrifying”, urging religious and community leaders to stand united in opposition to the “anti-religious act of violence”.