AFP commissioner vows to stand with Jewish community
AFP commissioner Krissy Barrett told Jewish women that silence "creates a permissive environment for hate" in a powerful and deeply personal address to NCJWA's conference.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett has told Jewish women they should never have to hide their identity to feel safe, delivering a deeply personal address to the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia’s national conference in which she spoke of grief, motherhood and the fight against hate.
Barrett opened by paying tribute to NCJWA founder Dr Fanny Reading, describing her as “a female trailblazer, my favourite type” and expressing admiration for her decision to work in Kings Cross caring for people “who others would have preferred were invisible”.
She drew a direct line from Reading’s legacy to the NCJWA’s guiding principle of “justice shall you pursue”, saying justice was a lifelong pursuit and that the means of pursuing it mattered just as much as the end goal.
“This ethos lives in my bones,” Barrett said.
Barrett said she was “deeply disappointed, frustrated, motivated to do more” when she heard stories of Jewish community members, especially children, removing their kippot or Stars of David for fear of being racially abused.
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