Jason Clare to QUT: enforce your code of conduct

The Queensland University of Technology faces bipartisan criticism and mounting pressure over its ‘anti-racism symposium’, with Labor Jewish MP Josh Burns calling it ‘shocking and irresponsible’.

Education Minister Jason Clare says he made clear to the Queensland University of Technology that it should enforce its code of conduct amid mounting bipartisan pressure on the university’s anti-racism symposium.

A Labor-led parliamentary inquiry on campus anti-Semitism is considering calling QUT leadership to testify publicly.

Labor Jewish MP and committee chair Josh Burns told The Australian that while he “can’t discuss what happens with the parliamentary committee, I can say that inquiry is ongoing and that there will be potential for further hearings and public hearings still to go before we release our report”.

“The material coming out of the Queensland University of Technology was shocking and personally, I have seen some truly stupid things, but that was about as irresponsible as I’ve seen in the last 18 months,” he said.

Committee deputy chair Liberal MP Henry Pike said he thought it was “entirely appropriate to compel those responsible to appear before a public hearing to answer questions”.

“What we’ve seen at QUT this week demonstrates how anti-Semitic sentiment has become normalised and even glorified on our university campuses,” he told The Australian.

“This is the sort of disgusting conduct that the inquiry has been established to investigate.”

Slides from Jewish Council of Australia Sarah Schwartz's presentation at QUT's anti-racism symposium comedy event. Picture: supplied

Mr Clare, when contacted for comment, said: “As I have made clear, there is no place for the poison of anti-Semitism in our universities or anywhere else.”

“Universities have codes of conduct in place, and they should enforce those policies. I have made that clear to the vice chancellor of QUT.”

Former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg – who is Jewish – said the QUT incident showed “our university leaders have failed us again”.

“Anti-Semitism has become normalised in Australia as Jews are singled out for ridicule and hate in a way we would not accept for any other minority group,” he said on X.

“What will it take for the federal Education Minister to act?”

At the centre of renewed anger is an address by Sarah Schwartz, who leads the left-wing Jewish Council of Australia, where she talked about “Dutton’s Jew” at a pre-symposium comedy event that promised to “courageously, intellectually, and of course humorously … seeks to lift and shift the ways we have come to think and talk about race and racism”.

In footage of the event, Ms Schwartz says: “Dutton’s Jew has really, really helpfully provided the human shield for him to talk about some of his favourite topics.”

“Hating on migrants, by arguing that Palestinian refugees are a threat to Jews, just generally hating on Muslims, protecting everyday Aussies from left-wing anti-war protesters and, of course, bolstering support for Israel as it commits a genocide.

“His party no longer needs to defend the right to be bigots because Dutton’s Jew can do this for him.”

In her post-event comments, Ms Schwartz clarified she was referring “to the way that Peter Dutton conceives of Jewish people and uses us as political footballs to push his own agenda”.

“It is not a reference to any particular Jewish individuals.”

Mr Clare’s comments come after Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler wrote him a letter on Friday morning urging him to “immediately call out and investigate the festival of hatred” at QUT.

“Since the symposium has begun, it has resulted in the dissemination of speech that incites hatred of Jewish Australians,” the letter read.

“One speaker even asserted that the Jewish community’s concerns around anti-Semitism have been concocted by or for a partisan conservative cause.

“We urge you to publicly condemn the anti-Semitic rhetoric that has been spread by this symposium and publicly rebuke the vice chancellor for her dismissive and unacceptable responses.

“We call on you to arrange for an investigation into the university in relation to this symposium, including whether taxpayer funds were used to support it, or the travel and accommodation of any guest speakers.

“We ask you to send the clearest possible message to the university sector – that there is no academic freedom to demonise Jews.”

A slide Ms Schwartz used at the event shows a cartoon of a superhero-esque character with “DJ” written across their chest – presumably “Dutton’s Jew” – with character traits listed such as “scared of protesters”, “hates Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims”, “anti-immigrant”, “thinks anti-Semitism is the only form of racism”.

In a statement on social media, Ms Schwartz accused “far-right social media accounts” of sharing that slide “without any context”.

“My speech was part of a comedy event making fun of racists,” she wrote.

“Dutton’s reduction of the Jewish community into a single stereotype, and silencing of Jews who don’t fit into that typology, only serves to make Jews less safe.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion said that slide was “clearly intended to stigmatise as evil and racist any Jewish person who might support the Coalition”.

“It is ironic that such an obvious and disgraceful racist trope has been used at an event that billed itself as an anti-racism symposium.”

Jewish Liberal MP Julian Leeser said the event was “further proof of why we need a judicial inquiry into anti-Semitism on campuses”.

After a spate of anti-Semitism allegations at universities as pro-Palestine protests swept campuses in the first half of last year, Labor rejected a call to hold a judicial inquiry but instead referred an inquiry to the joint parliamentary committee on human rights.

“As the only Jewish member of the parliamentary Liberal Party I say I am proud of my leader,” Mr Leeser said. “I am proud of my party and I will not take a step back from fighting anti-Semitism in this country.”

Liberal senator Dave Sharma, a former ambassador to Israel, said it was “grotesque and sickening that a so-called ‘anti-racist symposium’ is instead trafficking and perpetuating racial stereotypes and racist division”.

“QUT should immediately cancel the remainder of the conference.”

Mr Aghion also took aim at QUT leadership.

“QUT’s leadership have much to answer for,” he said. “We warned QUT in advance that this symposium was likely to be abused to promote a hateful and extremist agenda that would include anti-Semitic discourse.

“We also put them on notice that such behaviour would give further impetus to the spate of violent anti-Semitic incidents that have recently shocked and disgusted our country.

“QUT leaders responded with a combination of astonishing ignorance, reckless indifference to consequence, and the usual vacuous platitudes about freedom of expression.”

Mr Aghion said he had raised the incident with the joint parliamentary committee on anti-Semitism at Australian universities.

“A steady drip feed of events like these are slowly turning swathes of our universities into propaganda factories instead of places of learning,” he said.

“Freedom of expression does not permit freedom to hate others. That is a simple and basic proposition which the QUT leadership has failed to grasp. People will be forgiven for wondering how much intellectual depth and maturity they can expect from future QUT graduates and how much a QUT degree will be worth.”