Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I'm saddened by the terms of this debate, by the motion and the framing. This is not a partisan issue. Antisemitism is an ancient scourge. It's an ancient hatred that's existed for centuries or, indeed, millennia—thousands of years. It's spiked and receded over time and places, but the awful reality is that, since Hamas's murderous terrorist attack nearly two years ago, we've seen a spike in antisemitism here in Australia. It's as real as it is debilitating.

We see this in the Scanlon report on social cohesion that tracks these things over time, the world's longest longitudinal study in any country. We see it in the data on reported incidents from states and territories reflected in the special envoy's recent report, and we hear it in the lived experience of our Jewish friends and community members. Antisemitism, like other forms of discrimination, is a stain on our society. It has no place in Australia, whether its antisemitism or hatred and violence of any form. Every Australian deserves to feel safe and respected, be it in their community, their workplace, their school or their place of worship, no matter their race or their faith. An Australian, to me, is anyone who's committed to our country, its democratic institutions and that basic principle of mutual respect for their fellow Australians, who may be very different and believe very different things, be it about God or world politics. We need to disagree agreeably about some things.

As a personal comment, I grew up in Melbourne. I couldn't imagine my home city without Jewish Australians, without Jewish life, without Jewish culture and without their contribution to every domain of our national life for a century. I was the mayor of a council that covered half of the bagel belt in Carlisle Street and synagogues around east St Kilda and nearby. I attended a Shabbat dinner last Friday, just a few days ago, with my daughter. We spent hours with senior members of the Jewish community talking, eating, laughing, sharing, emoting and listening to each other. I'll say very clearly: Jewish Australians are not responsible for the actions of the Netanyahu government, whether they agree with them or not.

With respect to Iran, what's happened is abhorrent. We've had a foreign regime effect potentially murderous and deadly attacks, criminal attacks, on our soil. It's not just an attack on the Jewish community or a place of worship or a business; it's an attack on Australians and Australia. When one of us is attacked because of our identity all of us are diminished. The government has rightly taken action that we haven't seen in this country since the Second World War to expel the Iranian ambassador and diplomats and suspend the operations of the embassy. That will impact thousands of Australians—Iranian Australians, dual citizens and others in Iran right now. As we've heard, ASIO has done the painstaking work of uncovering the links with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. There are ongoing investigations.

I'll make one point in response to the hyperbole that we've sadly seen from those opposite. Their members who have spoken so far have been or are members of the intelligence and security committee. The member opposite was the deputy chair when I was a member of that committee. They well know that the government takes the advice of security agencies. They don't take the advice of the opposition or interest groups. We listen to it, but we act on the advice of our security agencies, as has long been the tradition in these matters, as was their action as the former government.

I'll say clearly that Iranian Australians are not responsible for the actions of the ayatollah regime. Most of them vehemently disagree with that regime. There are a couple of fringe-dwelling idiots who might carry a flag or a picture at a rally, but that doesn't represent the majority of the community and they shouldn't be tarred by it.

I'll finish on this point. The goal of these antisemitic attacks is to spread fear in the Jewish community and to divide Australians. I say to those opposite who want to bring this motion and frame the debate in these terms and weaponise this scourge of antisemitism, for whatever partisan reasons, however genuinely it is felt by all of us, this kind of debate is exactly what our adversaries want. Don't fall into their trap with this kind of motion and debate. It should be a moment for our nation to come together; it lasted 24 hours. The Leader of the Opposition's position yesterday was decent, but all the shadow leaders of the opposition—O'Brien, Cash and Hastie—have been out on TV talking out of both sides of their mouths, and they should know better.

See this speech in context