Election: Game on
As Aussies head to the polls May 3, ECAJ’s antisemitism plan marks a key policy divide between parties.
With Australians to go to the polls on May 3, there are stark policy differences between the government and the opposition. We now know that the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ)’s 15-point plan to combat antisemitism is one of them.
Replying to the ECAJ late last month after it asked the government to adopt the plan, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote that “antisemitism has no place in Australia and I unequivocally condemn it,” before listing steps he said Labor had taken to combat the issue.
The letter from Albanese did not specifically address any of the 15 points, all of which the Coalition has endorsed.
ECAJ president Daniel Aghion expressed disappointment to The AJN this week.
“While we acknowledge the government has implemented a number of law reforms, funded security for communal facilities after the burning of the Adass Israel synagogue and pledged investment in several worthy programs, we are disappointed that the government failed to even address the 15-point plan of action that emerged from the summit,” Aghion said.
“This has left many critical areas of concern unresolved including the situation on university campuses, the status of hate preachers who benefit from charitable status, the role of schools in delivering antisemitism education, and the need to address the ideological bias that runs through many cultural institutions.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told The Sunday Telegraph on March 9 that the Coalition supports the plan and is “committed to enacting the measures for which the federal government has responsibility”.
A judicial inquiry into antisemitism on campus (point six) has long been Coalition policy, while Dutton committed to establishing a dedicated antisemitism taskforce (point one) during his budget-in-reply speech last Thursday.
Jewish groups also slammed the government last week after its budget papers revealed that it will continue to fund the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA to the tune of $20 million per year.
Dutton has pledged to defund UNRWA.
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