Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

As has been remarked in this place on innumerable occasions, a government's first responsibility is to protect and defend its people. In the comments of my good friend the member for Bruce, he talked about not wanting to weaponise this issue, but that is this government's go-to whenever something is raised that the government do not want to talk about. It is absolutely clear, as clear as the nose on the member for Bruce's face, that this government has been asleep at the wheel on the issue of antisemitism. It has walked a very dangerous fine line since 7 October 2023.

With your indulgence, Madam Deputy Speaker Claydon, I want to tell the chamber about a very unfortunate circumstance that happened to me. I proudly wear the Australian and Israeli flags on my lapel. I'm not Jewish, but I am the chair of the Australia-Israel Allies Caucus. I was at the LNP conference on the weekend. I was minding my own business. I was actually in the foyer, and a staff member of the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre approached me and proceeded to berate me for what he perceived to be the offences of the IDF. This was a staff member of the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. I was initially stunned; I was quite taken aback. The staff member walked off, and I thought to myself: 'Expletive this! I'm not going to put up with this rubbish.' So I took off after him. I said, 'Mate, that conduct is absolutely not on,' or words to that effect. One of his supervisors came up to me because he could see that I was somewhat animated.

Antisemitism in this country flourishes when good people do nothing. It concerns me greatly when members opposite try to dampen down the debate by saying that we are seeking to weaponise this. I am absolutely saying that this government continues, in a surreptitious way, to promote antisemitism by its silence. It is absolutely true. This government continues to fail to call out what we have seen at universities. It has failed in every respect to call out antisemitism. It's one thing to make mealy mouthed expressions and comments. We had a group of Jewish Australian students in this building this week, and the reality is that they have faced the most appalling antisemitism over the last two years by academics, students and visitors alike. Despite repeated requests, this government has failed to institute a royal commission into the actions of those on university campuses. That is just one example of what we have seen over the last— (Time expired)

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