Community action is the key to a brighter future
‘I believe fundamentally in being a local Member who lifts people up’
The essence of Victoria’s Jewish community is impossible to properly encapsulate in words alone. Although terms like strong, vibrant, diverse, and generous are all accurate, the truest demonstration of who we are comes from seeing our community united in action.
As your local Member for Caulfield, my driving ambition has been to achieve things together with all communities. When I reflect on how I have worked with our community, it fills me with pride to see just how much we have done.
There is no greater example of that than these past few years. They have posed an unprecedented challenge, but at every point, the strength of our community held fast.
I will never forget the calls of despair my team and I took during 2020/2021 and the work we did to help people navigate confusing and ever-changing pandemic regulations. When our synagogues were closed, the Rabbinical Council and I worked together to negotiate with the government for shofar blowing through the streets of Caulfield. When kids could not go to school, we organised a pop-up toy shop in our office with the help of local suppliers. When people needed us, we delivered food parcels, masks and hand sanitiser to homes – all thanks to the help of wonderful community volunteers.
We were challenged by tough laws and lockdowns – but that never stopped us from finding ways to come together to support one another.
When antisemitism was rife in universities and schools, we stood alongside the young advocates from the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) and backed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism. Jewish Victorians felt the consequences most agonisingly when there has been conflict in Israel and as a community we united and gathered at rallies of harmony. We showed that our community stands for peace and justice for all.
When our community was targeted, I couldn’t sit on the sidelines. Politics is simply not a spectator sport. We championed laws to ban the Nazi swastika, thousands signed our petition and, together, we emphatically declared that our community will always reject hate.
For Holocaust survivors and their descendants, the ban could not have come soon enough. So, when some wanted to drag their feet and wait twelve months to get it done, we took immediate action to put the community first and cut the delay in half.
Our campaign illustrated the most important thing in politics: the magnificent power of community action.
These reflections on our past are a fundamental part of beginning the Jewish New Year. So too, is our duty to look towards our future and understand what is important to us as a community.
Like all Victorians, we need our health system fixed, cost of living pressures alleviated, and confidence restored to our state.
But there are also challenges unique to our community. We must deal with antisemitism, the safety and security of our community, keeping our community connected to Israel and our culture, and find ways for young people to have the option of a Jewish education.
For me, confronting these problems requires us to continue championing community-led solutions.
Whilst we now have the laws to ban the Nazi swastika, we need the grassroots community safety measures to help enforce them. That is why the Liberals have committed $600,000 in funding for CSG to expand and maintain its control room, CCTV capability and train volunteers with a focus on a new women’s empowerment program. Now, they will have an even greater scope to provide the eyes, ears and volunteers that keep us safe.
As the health crisis worsens and ambulance wait times get longer, it is the community volunteers from Hatzolah who are always on-call. But we know the work they do is not just vital for us; it is beneficial for the local community as a whole. So, we have committed $200,000 to work with Hatzolah and establish a defibrillator trial in Glen Eira: 120,000 defibrillators and thousands of volunteers to save lives from cardiac events.
The best solutions and brightest futures are forged out of communities. During my tenure as your Member for Caulfield, this is a proposition to which I have dedicated myself. I believe fundamentally in being a local Member who lifts people up and actively helps the unique brilliance of our community to shine through.
As the Jewish New Year begins, this is my vision for days ahead. I see a future teeming with opportunity and strengthened by our community spirit.
There is so much we have done together. As ever, there is still so much more to do.
David Southwick MP is the Member for Caulfield and deputy leader of the Liberal Party (Victoria).
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