Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025 and the related bill, the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) (Consequential Amendments) Bill.

While the coalition does have some concerns about giving regulatory authority to the Department of Education, rather than strengthening the independent regulator, we are supportive of this bill. Sexual assault and sexual harassment are unacceptable in any context, and the statistics reported in Universities Australia's 2021 National student safety survey around incidents on university campuses are incredibly concerning. Every student deserves to feel safe when they go to their place of education. That is why the coalition supports the purpose of this bill—to establish a national code to prevent and respond to gender based violence.

But, in addition to our support of this bill, the coalition also seeks an important amendment—to introduce a national higher education code to prevent and respond to antisemitism. As I mentioned, the coalition believes that everyone on university campuses should feel safe, but we know that, unacceptably, that is not the case for many Jewish Australians. The fact is that Jewish Australians do not feel safe—not in their places of education and, more broadly, not within our society.

I went to Israel following the attacks of 7 October. I've been to the places where murder and harrowing atrocities were committed. I've seen the footage and images of things that no-one should ever have to see or experience—places and scenes that are burned in my mind. I saw the outworking of hatred which has no place in a democratic society.

Israel is a long way from Australia, yet Jewish Australians right here are facing those same hateful attitudes. That, as I have said many times in this chamber, is an indictment on the Albanese government. I have long pointed to the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attacks and the lack of action taken by the Prime Minister. When we saw those protests and chants being shouted on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in the days after those attacks, the Prime Minister did not step up and show the kind of leadership that Jewish Australians needed. Since then, we have only seen things get worse.

The crisis of antisemitism which now exists in Australia is just that: it's a crisis. Yet we're seeing that young people under the age of 35 simply don't recognise the nature of this crisis. We're hearing that they do not understand the severity of antisemitism and they are not treating it properly. Quite frankly, it is no wonder, because, when we look at the way antisemitism has been treated by our very own prime minister, especially the way he has failed to deal appropriately with antisemitism on university campuses, it makes perfect sense that young people don't think there is a crisis.

Students at universities should be able to focus on getting an education and setting themselves up for a life of success and opportunity. Universities should be places where ideas can be freely debated and discussed. But the rampant nature of antisemitism has seen those ideas being stifled, particularly the ideas of Jewish academics, staff and students. It is an appalling development but, again, not surprising under Anthony Albanese's Labor government. They have failed to ensure that Jewish Australians, whether they be academics, staff or students, are able to engage safely and freely within our universities.

This is why the coalition sees the amendment proposed today as being of the utmost importance. We must do more. We must do better for everybody. The proposed national higher education code to prevent and respond to antisemitism is absolutely crucial if we are to have any hope of combating antisemitism properly. The proposed code will do a number of things. It would make it clear to all higher education students, staff and providers that everyone on a higher education campus has a right to feel safe. It would impose a range of obligations on universities concerning student and staff safety. Those obligations are incredibly important in light of the alarming increase in antisemitic incidents on university campuses since the October 7 attacks. Finally, it would require higher education providers to comply with recommendations of the National Student Ombudsman concerning the national higher education code to prevent and respond to antisemitism.

The coalition is absolutely committed to the protection and safety of Jewish Australians, which is why we moved this amendment yesterday and why we moved a similar amendment when this legislation was before the House of Representatives earlier this year. Since the legislation was before the House earlier this year, the government's own Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal AO, has prepared a report which highlights the fact that antisemitism has been ingrained and normalised in academia and cultural spaces. The special envoy has recommended a number of measures which this Albanese Labor government must take seriously. With respect to universities, the special envoy has offered to work with government to terminate or withdraw funding from those universities where antisemitic conduct is occurring. That is the kind of action that we need to see being backed by the Prime Minister—the kind of action which will actually have an impact and actually hurt those who fail to comply, and the kind of action that is more than empty words but has real consequences. The special envoy has also recommended that, if significant problems remain in universities at the start of the 2026 academic year, there should be a dedicated judicial inquiry.