It’s a minute to midnight

The upcoming federal election will be a pivotal event in contemporary Australian history. For many Australians, it will also be when we reflect on our freedoms and sacrifices and renew our commitments to freedom. Christian Australians do so through the Lent season and Easter, Muslim Australians during Ramadan and for Jews it will soon be Pesach.

For those not happy with the way Australia is travelling, this is the time to make every effort to ensure our incoming federal government pursues policies which address these concerns and restore the values which Australians have enjoyed but largely taken for granted. It is time to stop taking Australia’s democracy for granted and engage with all Australians including new, old and Indigenous about these concerns. If we continue to take the “she’ll be right mate” attitude and leave the hard yards to “them” there is every prospect Australia will continue down the present path of lower living standards and the increasing gap between have and have nots.

Without compulsory voting many Australians, perhaps up to half, would abandon voting rights simply because they believe that our leaders no longer care about them. This would expose Australia to electing destructive radicals such as the Greens. Such a result betrays the wonderful egalitarian values of Australia and dishonours the legacy of Australia’s defence forces who sacrificed so much so we could enjoy the freedoms and opportunities of a democracy.

We should lobby to extract from our politicians policies that will address the economic reforms needed to provide incentives to invest, improve productivity and correct the unfair wealth distribution. Without these critical reforms it is not possible to address other inequities in our governance, public services and important lifestyle issues including climate change, law and order and defence.

Meaningful reforms must be the urgent priority of the incoming government. The longer these reforms are delayed the greater the inevitable pain and disruption that reforms necessarily involve.

Concurrent with these economic reforms we need policies that address the growing misinformation spread by the widely distributed propaganda subtly directed at destroying the values of Australia’s democratic society. This well funded, well planned “warfare” has been gradually occurring over decades.

It is the product of a unique collaboration between the extremes of the right, the left and Islamism. This “movement” has been infiltrating many of our institutions including universities. All it needed was a trigger. The October 7, 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel provided this trigger. Hence the Sydney Opera House demonstration occurred even before Israel entered Gaza. Then followed well-orchestrated campus disruptions and never ending street demonstrations which enlisted well meaning but ill-informed Australians.

Antisemitism is just the entry point for the principal objective of destroying western values. Courageous leaders are required to counter destructive misinformation, lies and half-truths and bring the people with them.

In order to arrest trends and minimise the risks for future generations we must exercise our democratic rights, obligations and responsibilities. We must raise our concerns with our fellow Australians, inform them about the Jewish community’s contributions to Australia, to the creation of modern Israel and to our civilisation’s values. While most Australians are instinctively sympathetic, they know little about Jewish history and its contributions to the principles and values we wish to preserve.

The elected Australian Jewish community leaders, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) who are leading this initiative, need more grassroots support. There will always be those amongst us who want to disagree with the leadership and claim to know better. The Australian Jewish Association, the Anti-Defamation Commission and the Jewish Council of Australia, despite their titles, are not elected by our organised community, nor represent a significant number of Australian Jews. Of course all have the right to express their opinions, so long as they do not misrepresent. We must not allow ourselves to be diverted from the real challenges.

We must advocate strongly with our current and prospective politicians. This can take many forms including donations, letters and emails to editors, talk back programs, social media, attending meetings, volunteering and engaging with fellow Australians. If we are to impact the dangers threatening our valued lifestyles, we must continuously demonstrate commitment to Australian democracy, starting NOW!

Grahame Leonard AM is a former ECAJ president.