Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for International Development) Share this | Hansard source

I do just want to take a moment to thank the member for bringing this MPI and for the opportunity to speak on this important issue. With respect, though, this, of course, is not the first time, and, sadly, I imagine it's not the last time that we will be speaking about antisemitism as well as other forms of racism in this place.

In fact, I am reminded of one of my very first debates when I was first elected to this House in 2016. For the new members on both this side and opposite, I thought I might remind people that that was the debate on the removal of section 18C from the Racial Discrimination Act. I'll remind those opposite, who were in government at the time, that they argued that people have a right to be bigots. I'll remind those opposite that they argued that offence was taken, not given. Some of the members who argued that back in 2016 are still in this House today—whether or not they continue to hold those views, I don't know.

It was this side of the House, the Labor members, including many who sit here with me today, who stood against their attempts to water down the very mechanism that today affords Australians protection against the serious harms and effects of racism, bigotry and antisemitism. It was us who stood up against the removal of section 18C from the Racial Discrimination Act. We did that, and we stopped them from watering down those laws.

I'm also reminded that not long after that debate, something happened, and it's seared in my memory because not long after that both sides came together to condemn the hate speech of a particular senator. I know the member for Berowra and shadow Attorney-General remembers that. We stood together to condemn the hate speech of a particular senator, which I won't repeat, and I won't repeat his name because he's not deserving of that. That was deeply offensive, not just to Jewish Australians but to anybody who has in their lives been a target of hate. That moment is seared in my memory because, as a new member of parliament at that time, as a person of colour and as a Muslim, it showed that we are stronger when we take a bipartisan stance against antisemitism and hatred—when we stand together. It showed me, as a new person in this place, that there are things that are above politics, and it confirmed to me that racism and hatred should never, ever be weaponised for political ends and that we can rise above that in this place. We saw a glimpse of that yesterday afternoon again, when the Leader of the Opposition associated her comments with the Prime Minister's remarks, particularly with regard to our moves to list the IRCG as a terrorist organisation and the swift actions that we took when those revelations were made yesterday. We saw a glimpse of it yesterday; sadly, it didn't last.

The Prime Minister today in question time outlined the actions that this government has taken with regard to combating and addressing rising antisemitism. But it's worth repeating them, particularly now, and it's worth in particular repeating the Prime Minister's mention of the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism. I want to take a moment to thank Jillian Segal for the collaborative way in which she has worked, not just with me but with other relevant ministers in her role as the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism. Some of the other things that were mentioned by the Prime Minister and are worth repeating include that we are working with state attorneys-general to establish a national database to track antisemitic crime and other antisemitic incidences and behaviours. We need to know what we're dealing with here. I will say also that, whilst there has been a surge in antisemitism, antisemitism, as Jillian Segal often repeats to me, is an ancient hatred. Unfortunately, in this country we have seen sporadic increases in antisemitism and other forms of hatred throughout history. What is important is that we deal with them. What is important is not just that we set up the structures to respond to acts of antisemitism but that we set up strong foundations and structures to ensure it doesn't happen again. That requires us to really tackle the fragility of our social cohesion in this country.

I've long lamented the fact that there is a kind of gritted-teeth tolerance of difference in our nation, whether that is cultural and linguistic difference, whether it's a difference of race or whether, indeed, it's a difference of faith. We live in a pluralistic nation. Religious pluralism is inherent in our Constitution as well. And yet those of us who have been the recipients of hatred because of our faith or because of the colour of our skin or because of our background know too well that it is a very, very fragile tolerance that we have to live with. I hear the passion in the member for Berowra and shadow Attorney-General's voice, and I feel that passion too. We should not have to bear the burden of consistently having to stand up and educate people of the impacts of racism on our lives.

The Prime Minister also mentioned today our landmark legislation to ban the Nazi salute and the public display of Nazi symbols and, indeed, symbols of any terrorist organisation in Australia. That came into effect in January 2024. We've also criminalised doxxing. In terms of other measures that we have taken, we have provided more than $57 million to improve safety and security at Jewish community sites, including schools and synagogues. It's with great sadness that I say that we had to do this. People in this country should be able to freely worship and freely congregate in their faith communities and in their places of worship without having to worry about their security. But, sadly, we are in a position now where we have to harden schools, synagogues, temples, mosques and community centres against people who would be perpetrators of hatred and violence.

We provided $25 million to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry for improved safety and security at Jewish sites across the country, including, as I mentioned, schools, preschools, synagogues and faith based community centres. We provided $32½ million to ECAJ for security measures in response to increased violence towards Australia's Jewish community; a grant of $250,000 towards the replacement and restoration of Torah scrolls housed in the Adass Israel synagogue; and $8½ million to upgrade the Sydney Jewish Museum, and that funding will go towards the Centre of Jewish Life and Tolerance.

It's with a heavy heart that I stand here and speak about this. There was a time when I thought that I would not have to do so again in this place and when I thought that we had come together in our condemnation of hatred, bigotry and racism in all its forms. That burden of having to consistently stand up against racism and hatred continues to fall on our shoulders. But I will end on this: the responsibility for strengthening our social cohesion in this country and for ensuring that generations of Australians in the future do not have to deal with a fragile social cohesion that is so subject to periodic ruptures, whether it be because of things that are happening overseas or things that are happening domestically, lies on all our shoulders. It lies on the shoulders of every single member in this place by way of how we model behaviour to those people who are watching. But it also falls on the shoulders of every single Australian. Hatred, racism and antisemitism are not things that we can handle alone. They have to be things that every Australian commits to combating. We commit to this for a better future for our children, for a better future for our nation and for an Australia that truly is the most successful multicultural nation in the world.

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