Police slam anti-Semitic graffiti in riverside Perth suburb of Dalkeith
Western Australian police say they ‘will not tolerate crimes that undermine our way of life’ after anti-Semitic graffiti was found in the riverside Perth suburb of Dalkeith on Sunday.
Western Australian police are investigating anti-Semitic graffiti attacks in the riverside Perth suburb of Dalkeith, home to mining billionaires and some of the city’s most successful businesspeople.
A swastika and the phrase “F*ck Jews” was spray painted on the front wall of a residence in Viking Road, Dalkeith.
More graffiti was found spray painted on a For Sale sign outside another residence on Viking Road.
That sign had been removed on Sunday.
A resident reportedly told The West Australian it had been daubed with the words “WA Labor Nazis”.
“It is believed the damage occurred between 6.30pm on Saturday, 1 February and 7.30am on Sunday, 2 February,” police said in a media statement on Sunday.
“WA Police takes any report of racial or religiously motivated crimes extremely seriously.
“There is no place for this kind of behaviour in our community and we will not tolerate crimes that undermine our way of life in Western Australia.”
Anthony Albanese told The Australian on Sunday: “There is absolutely no place for this kind of hatred and anti-Semitism in Australia.”
“We are stronger than the cowards who did this,” the Prime Minister said.
“This is a crime and I look forward to seeing the perpetrators caught and charged.”
The Albanese government’s response to a rising tide of anti-Semitism in Australia includes the establishment of Operation Avalite with the Australian Federal Police and $100m for countering violent extremism.
Federal Labor has moved to criminalise hate speech, committed $32.5 million for security measures at Jewish schools and synagogues and in January penalties of one year in jail and a fine of up $16,5000 came into effect for the Nazi salute and hate symbols.
The government has also criminalised doxxing and is working with states and territories on a national database on anti-Semitic incidents for the purpose of co-ordinating responses.
The attack comes less than a week since Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton joined members of Perth’s Jewish community in the northern Perth suburb of Yokine to honour the six million Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the Nazi death camps.
Senator Michaelia Cash, opposition attorney-general spokeswoman and a resident of the area where the anti-Semitic graffiti was found, said it was disgusting to see the vile expression of anti-Semitism in Perth.
“No one should be targeted in their homes or anywhere else because of their faith or ancestry,” Senator Cash said.
“The attacks we’ve seen targeting Jewish people in this country are an attack on all Australians and our way of life.
“There are many Australians living in fear, people who are of Jewish faith, who are worried about an attack on their home, their place of business or an attack online.
“This wave of anti-Semitic attacks across Australia – including on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne and more recently in Dover Heights and Maroubra in Sydney – has shocked Australia and the world. It underlines the rise of anti-Semitism in Australia since the horrific terrorist attack on 7 October, 2023.
“The Prime Minister has been walking both sides of the street, leaving him completely out of his depth during a period of a national crisis.”
The graffiti was found in the federal seat of Curtin held by Teals community independent Kate Chaney.
Ms Chaney told The Australian: “I’m shocked by the really disturbing anti-Semitic graffiti in Dalkeith overnight.
“This has no place in our community or any community.
“I urge anyone with information to come forward to police so the perpetrators can be found.
“I’m proud to live in a cohesive and supportive community. We will not be divided by this criminal act. We will continue to insist that everyone is treated with respect, irrespective of their religion or anything else, in Curtin and beyond.”
WA Chief Rabbi Dan Lieberman told The Australian the graffiti was not a demonstration that the Cook Labor government had been weak on anti-Semitism.
He said WA Labor premier Roger Cook and his police minister Paul Papalia had been unequivocal that there would be severe consequences for hate crimes against the Jewish community.
“So far that has had a deterrent effect in this state,” Rabbi Dan said.
However, Rabbi Dan said there now appeared to be a “societal problem” on both sides of the country in which anti-Semitic behaviour was allowed.
“It is becoming a topic of conversation among Jewish people about whether Australian society wants us here anymore,” he said.
Rabbi Dan said he believed most Australians were repulsed by anti-Semitism, but the “noisy minority and silent majority” was beginning to cause problems for the nation more broadly.
He said that while in Israel a few weeks ago he spoke to a shopkeeper who was wrapping a gift for his daughter.
Rabbi Dan asked the man to wrap it tightly because he was taking it on an international flight.
“He asked where I was headed and I said ‘Australia’ and he said ‘Don’t go to Australia. They hate you there’.
“This is my home and Australians are getting a reputation now where they do not like Jewish people.
“I know that is not true of the majority, of course, but this is the reputation.”
Anyone with information, CCTV or dashcam footage of the area is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via www.crimestopperswa.com.au.
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