Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to second the motion. In January this year, we marked 77 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. We remembered those who suffered at the hands of Hitler's Nazi regime, including six million Jewish victims and millions of other victims, including those from the LGBTQI+ community, Roma, Sinti, people with disabilities, political dissidents and more.

Today, as we are seeing a worrying number of antisemitic incidents reported in our schools and universities, the work of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and other organisations in promoting Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism and Holocaust denialism has never been more important. Therefore, on behalf of my community in Wentworth, I'm honoured to co-sponsor this motion, along with the honourable member for Macnamara. I also want to acknowledge the work that my predecessor, the former member for Wentworth, Dave Sharma, did in this work.

Wentworth is home to a large and vibrant Jewish community. I have lived there almost my whole life. Over the years, I've developed deep, personal connections with many families devastated by the Holocaust, many of who sadly continue to suffer antisemitism today. When I was 20 years old, I had the privilege of visiting Auschwitz with my father. I will never forget that experience. You walk into the gates, and you can't quite believe what happened there actually happened there. Then you see the piles of clothes, the bags, the belongings of people who died there, and the enormity of what happened starts to sink in—the incomprehensibility of the unimaginable.

Earlier this year, I sat in Rookwood Cemetery with members of the Wentworth community, where they read the names of family members who died in the Holocaust. That was another moment when I really felt the enormity of what had happened. It is hard to imagine those horrors of the Holocaust unless you have those experiences that truly educate you about them. Studying the Holocaust—be that in school, visiting Auschwitz or in the local Jewish museum—gives people a crucial understanding of how social, religious, political and economic factors can erode and, ultimately, destroy human rights. It helps us to understand and appreciate the vital importance of our own democratic institutions and their vulnerabilities.

These lessons must never be forgotten, and that is why some of the trends in the Gandel Foundation's recent study, which is so important, are worrying. Nearly a quarter of Australian adults admit to having little or no knowledge of the Holocaust. That number rises to one in three for millennials. The knowledge of Australians about their own Australian links to, or stories related to, the Holocaust is very low. The research also found apparent latent antisemitism in Australia. Some of the trends noted in the Gandel survey are, unfortunately, evident in the worrying rise of antisemitism across our society. As I highlighted earlier today, in the past two weeks, the New South Wales board of deputies, a group that I work with, have received reports of two cases of antisemitic bullying in Sydney's east. These incidents come fresh off the back of another school in New South Wales where students use a chat room to share racist, homophobic and violent misogynistic content. Earlier this year, we saw another case in Sydney where the word 'Hitler' was graffitied across a high-school fence.

All members of our community need to feel safe and need to be able to practise their faith in freedom. We need urgent action to educate people about the Holocaust and to fight the rising tide of antisemitism. Whilst the Gandel survey found some worrying gaps in knowledge about the Holocaust, it also highlighted the brilliant work of the Holocaust museums. Among those who replied to the survey, those who had visited the museum were about 50 per cent more likely to have excellent Holocaust knowledge than those who hadn't visited. I have had the honour of visiting the Sydney Jewish Museum and I support the work of the IHRA museums across the country. I understand that there will be new or redeveloped museums in every state and territory, and I support the development of resources that could be shared with communities and schools.

Holocaust education in our schools is critical. I call on all states and territories to follow the lead of Victoria and New South Wales and make Holocaust education a mandatory aspect of their school curriculum. We also need meaningful implementation of the IHRA definition of 'antisemitism' in our universities. There are still too many antisemitic motions passed by student bodies across the country, and universities are not always safe spaces for our Jewish students, as they should be. I want to see leaders and community members empowered to speak out and take action against incidents when they happen, and I stand ready to support them in their efforts. I commend this motion to the House.

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