ANTISEMITISM – AUSTRALIA

Gun laws fail to quell rising anger

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 17-Dec-25

The federal government is attracting growing criticism over its plans for gun controls in the wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. Former prime minister John Howard is concerned that the government is using gun laws as a diversion to deflect attention from its failure to show leadership on the issue of anti-Semitism. He says Labor’s initial response to the 7 October 2023 terrorist attacks in Israel had been "weak and unconvincing"; he contends that some of the anti-Semitism that has been allowed to spread over the last two years may have been prevented if Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had taken a firmer stance from the outset. Queensland’s Premier David Crisafulli supports gun law reform but agrees that cracking down on anti-Semitism must be a priority.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

PM ready for the fight against anti-Semitism

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Original article by Richard Ferguson, Noah Yim, Rhiannon Down
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 9-Jul-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says anti-Semitism is a "scourge" that has no place in Australia. He adds that the federal government will continue to engage constructively with the Jewish community to ensure that it gets the support that it needs. Albanese has also advised that the government’s special envoy Jillian Segal is working on a new strategy to combat anti-Semitism in the wake of the recent attacks on a synagogue and a Jewish-owned restaurant in Melbourne. It is expected to adopt some of the proposals outlined in a 15-point plan released by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry in February. However, Albanese has rejected Opposition leader Sussan Ley’s proposal to convene an emergency meeting of the national cabinet.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN JEWRY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Sydney nurse Sarah Abu Lebdeh charged over kill Israelis video

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Original article by Stephen Rice
The Australian – Page: Online : 26-Feb-25

NSW detectives from Strike Force Pearl have arrested former Bankstown Hospital nurse Sarah Abu Lebdeh several weeks after she and a male colleague threatened to kill Israeli patients. The 26-year-old has been charged with three commonwealth offences, including threatening violence to a group, the use of a carriage service to threaten to kill, and use of a carriage service to menace, harass or offend. Police Commissioner Karen Webb says the charges have been laid following a lot of hard work, as well as legal advice received from the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions on Tuesday. Ahmad Rashad Nadir has yet to be charged over the antisemitic rant that was recorded by Israeli social media influencer Max Veifer.

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Albanese confident US would come to Australia’s defence in event of attack

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Original article by Kate Lyons
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 25-Feb-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese discussed issues such as Australia’s alliance with the US, the cost-of-living crisis and social cohesion in a special edition of the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night. Amongst other things, Albanese expressed confidence that Australia could rely on the US to help defend the nation if it were to come under attack; however, he also emphasised the need for Australia to invest in its own defence. Albanese described anti-semitism as "abhorrent and completely unacceptable", in response to criticism from an audience member regarding his perceived lack of action against people who have been targeting Jewish Australians.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Van bomb targeted at synagogue

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Original article by Alexi Demetriadi
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 30-Jan-25

The Joint Counter Terrorism Team has been deployed to investigate a suspected plot to target Jewish Australians, after NSW police discovered a caravan packed with explosives in the north-west Sydney suburb of Dural. A note identifying a Jewish target – which is said to be a Sydney synagogue – was found in the caravan, and Deputy Police Commissioner Dave Hudson estimates that the explosives were sufficient to create a blast zone radius of 40 metres. NSW police found the caravan 10 days ago, and argue that publicly disclosing the incident may have compromised their investigation; it was only revealed after being leaked to the media on Wednesday. Meanwhile, police have confirmed that the owner of the caravan is in custody, although he has not yet been charged with any offence.

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NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE FORCE, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Coalition demands Labor hate speech crackdown explicitly outlaw threats and attacks on places of worship

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Original article by Krishani Dhanji
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 24-Jan-25

Federal parliament will resume in February, with Labor’s proposed crackdown on hate speech set to be one of the major points of discussion. Tabled in September, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus contends that the legislation will act as a deterrent to anti-Semitism and other forms of hate speech and would protect places of worship, but the Coalition wants the legislation to explicitly outlaw threats and attacks against places of worship. For her part, independent MP Allegra Spender has called on the government to include a stronger vilification offence for hateful speech in the legislation. Her eastern Sydney electorate has a large Jewish community and LGBTQ+ community, who she said have both raised concerns about the proposed legislation not doing enough.

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AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Cops suspect foreign actors paying crims for anti-Semitic attacks

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Alexi Demetriadi
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 22-Jan-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese belatedly convened a meeting of the national cabinet on Tuesday to discuss the growing incidence of anti-Semitism in Australia. The virtual meeting with state and territory leaders was held in the wake of the latest anti-Semitic attack, in which a Sydney childcare centre was firebombed and daubed with an anti-Semitic message; the facility is not directly linked to the Jewish community, but it is located just 200 metres from the Maroubra synagogue. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw has raised the possibility that ‘overseas actors’ may be using encrypted devices to hire ocal criminals to carry out anti-Semitic attacks and paying them with cryptocurrency.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Dutton pledges mandatory sentences for terror

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Original article by Rhiannon Down, Ellie Dudley
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Jan-25

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to convene a meeting of the national cabinet to address the growing problem of anti-Semitism and extremism. Dutton has also committed to introducing a minimum mandatory sentence of six years for terrorism offences and 1-5 years for displaying Nazi symbols and those of prohibited terrorist organisations. However, Law Council of Australia president Juliana Warner and Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Greg Barns have criticised Dutton’s push for mandatory sentencing for such crimes.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LAWYERS ALLIANCE

‘Democracy is at stake’: SOS from PM’s envoy

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Original article by Alexi Demetriadi, Bianca Farmakis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 15-Jan-25

Australia’s inaugural envoy on anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, has urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to convene a meeting of national cabinet to address the issue. Segal has called for harsher sentences and more prosecutions for hate crimes directed at Jewish Australians, arguing that the judiciary’s soft approach to sentencing is giving anti-Semites "effective impunity". Segal adds that politicians at federal and state level must take legislative action if current laws are not "up to the task". Segal notes that the recent attacks on the Jewish community are part of a "systematic pattern of intimidation" that began when no action was taken against people who targeted Jews at the Sydney Opera House on 9 October 2023.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

China, Russia, Israel: Wong on affront foot

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Original article by Ben Packham, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 : 11-Dec-24

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has defended a controversial speech at the University of South Australia. Wong used the Hawke Lecture to contend that it is not anti-Semitic to expect Israel to comply with international law, in the same way that Russia and China are expected to do so with regard to Ukraine and the South China Sea. However, shadow home affairs minister James Paterson says Wong’s criticism of Israel is encouraging anti-Semitism and threatening the safety of Jewish Australians. Meanwhile, Simone Abel from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry has accused the government of double standards regarding foreign policy towards Israel.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN JEWRY