How the Aussie Left Went Bankrupt on Antiracism
"Antisemitism deserves more than to be an afterthought in a political motion"
In Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises, a character is asked how he went bankrupt. “Two ways,” he replies. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
The same goes for the Left’s moral standing on antiracism. Gradually, through years of selective outrage and wilful blindness to antisemitism, including demonising the Jewish movement of self-determination, Zionism, accelerating after the pogrom carried out by Hamas on October 7. Then suddenly, at the recent Victorian Labor conference, with the passage of so-called “emergency motions” on the Israel-Hamas war. These did not merely seek recognition of a Palestinian state “immediately”, which the federal government last week acted upon, but deliberately provoked Jewish Laborites, and all Australian Jews, with a “Equality, Respect and Democratic Rights for All People” anti-racism motion bundled into cognate debate full of extreme anti-Israel motions. The “anti-racism” motion sought to respect “the dignity and equal rights” of all “to live in freedom and security, free from persecution and intimidation in a diverse, respectful, and multicultural society.” Fine sentiments, if only the movers practised what they preached.
This was a motion that all conference delegates should have been able to unite behind. Instead, an extreme left-wing element led by former MP Maria Vamvakinou – deploying the language that once disfigured UK Labour under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership – decontextualised antisemitism, making it a token reference after a catch-all nod to “all forms of hatred”, and tacked on “Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism”.
Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism are real, dangerous and must be opposed. Yet here antisemitism was treated with contempt. There was no mention of the Albanese government’s appointment of a Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism or Jillian Segal’s plan to tackle the world’s oldest hatred, nor Jacinta Allan Labor state government’s formation of an anti-hate taskforce. There was no recognition of the national antisemitism crisis playing out and most severely in Melbourne.
However inconvenient, thank God, here are the facts: since October 7 there have been no mosques or churches or Sikh Gurdwaras firebombed in Victoria. No Friday Islamic prayers interrupted. By contrast, every week Jewish institutions – schools, shuls, community centres – are targeted by threats, abuse and graffiti. There have been synagogue arson attacks, and protests shutting down religious services. Jewish schoolchildren have been called “dirty Jews” on excursions. Jewish-owned businesses like Miznon in Melbourne’s CBD have been mobbed. University campuses have become hostile environments for Jewish students.
This is not abstract to me. A few months ago, leaving my synagogue, my 11-year-old daughter asked of me, “Dad, why are there men with guns outside?” I had to explain that they had always been there – there are just more of them now – and they are there to protect us. No parent, of any faith or background, should have to have that conversation.
Antisemitism deserves more than to be an afterthought in a political motion. That’s why I moved reasonable, sensible amendments – recognising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism and that “at present” the former was “the most serious manifestation of racism and hate in Australia and Victoria” and commending both federal and state governments for their concrete efforts on their specific efforts to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia My amendments were rejected. You read that right: the movers of the motion explicitly stated that they were not amenable to commending government action against Islamophobia
Worse, the motion’s drafters consulted no Jewish Labor members, despite its direct relevance. They insisted the debate occur on Shabbat, excluding observant Jews from participating. As if to underline the point, conference coincided with the start of Tisha B’Av – the Jewish fast day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples and other tragedies in the Jewish people’s history, a day of mourning and reflection. Symbolism, it seems, was lost on them – though I pointed it out beforehand. This was not the first time. Last year, when I spoke on a related motion, I was heckled, told “sit down Zionist” and called a “mutt”. I can handle it, but younger Jewish members were shaken, some now too afraid to speak.
The parallels to the British Labour experience are stark. Under Corbyn, antisemitism denialism became normalised in the name of ‘anti-racism’ – and described by the collective representing its Jewish members as “institutionally antisemitic” – until voters thoroughly rejected it in 2019. Sir Keir Starmer spent years rooting it out to make Labour electable again. Why on earth would anyone in Labor want to go down that dark, corrosive path?
This is not just an internal party dispute. It is a question of whether the Left in this country remains serious about antiracism. Solidarity with religious and ethnic minorities cannot be conditional. Antiracism cannot be selective. You cannot ignore or downplay racism against a small, visible minority because it is politically inconvenient, or because some members of that community support a foreign government whose policies you oppose. That is precisely how moral bankruptcy happens: gradually, by excusing double standards; then suddenly.
Labor is the party that built multicultural Australia. It must be the natural home for those who oppose all forms of racial and religious hatred. But on 2 August 2025, a section of the Victorian Left abandoned that tradition in favour of callousness. They excluded the lived experience of Jewish Victorians from the fight against racism. They rejected solidarity when it was needed most. In doing so, they have made Labor a less safe space for Jews.
This can be repaired – but only if the party leadership is willing to act. That means making clear that antisemitism will be treated as seriously as any other form of racism, in word and deed. It means ensuring Jewish Labor members are consulted on matters directly affecting them and not picking and choosing which communities get protection and solidarity.
And in the aftermath of Palestinian statehood recognition, it is time the movement’s leadership picked up the phone to Jewish Laborites, including many life members of forty plus years of unpaid service thinking of leaving, thank them for what they have done, and beg them to stay. Or is it now easier and politically convenient to see them depart?
Hemingway’s words should be a warning. The bankruptcy of the Left’s moral authority on antisemitism has been years in the making. If it fails to correct course now, the damage is long-lasting: to Labor, to Australia, and the very idea of equality and respect for all.
Nick Dyrenfurth is Co-Convenor of Labor Friends of Israel.