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

I'd also like to commend the member for Berowra for bringing forward this important motion, as well as support the words of the member for Macnamara. It is an absolute pleasure and honour to be able to stand here today and celebrate B'nai B'rith and everything that the organisation has brought to this country.

One of the great privileges in my place, particularly in Wentworth, is to see firsthand the huge contribution the Jewish community has made to the strength of not only the community in Wentworth and not only the Jewish community but the entire country. B'nai B'rith is just a perfect example of this. Their core message I read as I was researching this is:

Our core values place humanity at the centre of everything we do.

And it is those core values that I believe are more important than ever in this country. It is remarkable to see the breadth of positive impact that B'nai B'rith has brought to the country over its 80 years, from retirement villages, shopping centres and social groups to really starting Holocaust education. I'm very privileged to have the Sydney Jewish Museum in my electorate. To know that Holocaust awareness and education was really born out of that 1981 Holocaust exhibition, which has now transformed to museums around the country, is absolutely critical and really speaks to the impact that B'nai B'rith has had on this country.

Very much like the previous two speakers, I want to shout out Courage to Care, because that is the organisation and the program that I have seen having the greatest direct impact on students of all faiths in my electorate. I had the enormous privilege of being in one of those programs recently at Rose Bay secondary College. I sat in the room, in the circles with the students, listening to Susan Warhaftig. She talked about her own experience as a two-year-old escaping the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II. Seeing how that lived history transformed the perspectives of those young people of all faiths and all backgrounds in the room was incredible. It was a beautiful and very uplifting experience. It is remarkable to see that Courage to Care has had that sort of impact on 400,000 students around Australia. That is absolutely critical.

Again, that message of being an upstander, not a bystander, is one that I think is more important than ever. When I contemplate where we are right now as a country and some of the challenges that we do face as a country, how do we bring that forward? How do we deal with some of those? I think it is very much the values that B'nai B'rith has brought to the country that are the ones the ones we need to continue to live with.

Last week I was speaking to members of the Australian Union of Jewish Students who were in Canberra, and I'm going to be speaking to members again this week, about how we fight antisemitism. This is not just about antisemitism; it's about how we continue to make sure that this country is the most successful and welcoming multicultural, multifaith country in the world. It is through programs like those championed by B'nai B'rith that we can continue to do that. It is that message of compassion and of bridging divides that B'nai B'rith has championed throughout its work. Its championship of human rights has set an incredible example both to the local community in Wentworth and around the country as well. I think this has been a remarkable contribution to the broader country.

I would also like to shout out a few people in the room. I don't have everyone's name on this list, but I would particularly like to shout out Anna Marks and Janine Zimbler as the president and immediate past president for what they have done. I'm not going to do any more names lest I leave out those who should be recognised. It is really important and wonderful that they've come to Canberra to celebrate this. I am really proud to be able to stand here and celebrate B'nai B'rith as well. We all try to have lives beyond the concerns of our families and our work, and it is that gift of giving beyond yourself and beyond your immediate concerns which makes this country stronger, more successful and a more compassionate and happier place to live in. So thank you to everyone from B'nai B'rith for those decades of service to the country. It has made an enormous difference and, I hope, will continue to for another 80 years.

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