Leeser to Labor: ‘vote for your own antisemitism policy’
Member for Berowra tells Parliament universities had responded to instructions to tackle antisemitism by arguing over the definition of the word
Shadow education minister Julian Leeser introduced a private member’s bill on antisemitism in universities to Parliament on Monday, calling it a circuit breaker and urging the government to support it.
The Antisemitism in Higher Education Bill 2026 would do two things: require a consistent national definition of antisemitism — the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition — on every Australian university campus and in taxpayer-funded research supported by the Australian Research Council, and require universities to prevent, combat and respond to antisemitism, while barring ARC grant recipients from using funds to promote, enable or amplify it.
“How can we fight antisemitism effectively if we do not even agree what the word means?” Leeser told the House. “What do we expect of our universities, if not to prevent, combat and respond to antisemitism?”
He noted the IHRA definition has been adopted by the Albanese government and all state governments, is accepted by the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, and is used by the National Student Ombudsman.
“To Labor I say this: support this bill. I am asking for you to vote for your own policy. I am asking you to set it down in law,” he said.
Leeser said the bill expressly permits criticism of Israel in the same way one would criticise other foreign governments. “What it does not tolerate is the abuse of Jews using Israel as a pretext.”
He was scathing about universities, saying many had allowed Jew-hate to become normalised and had responded to instructions from both sides of politics by arguing over definitions.
“We now have the ridiculous situation where conduct that is antisemitic at one campus on one side of Sydney is acceptable on another campus on the other side of Sydney,” Leeser said. “Rather than show leadership and take a strong position, you have argued the semantics. You have fallen at the first hurdle.”
He said abuse on campus hid behind what he called a fig leaf of being anti-Zionist rather than antisemitic, “a pathetic and ridiculous excuse where the targets are overwhelmingly Australian staff and students, in Australia”.
Leeser listed harassment, assaults and spitting directed at Jewish students by students and staff, weeks-long encampments, defaced facilities, occupied buildings, Nazi salutes and death threats, and Jewish academics whose offices were invaded and urinated on. He pointed to the Globalise the Intifada ticket that contested Student Representative Council elections at the University of Sydney last month.
“We have seen what intifada looks like in this country. It looks like 15 Jewish bodies murdered on Bondi Beach.”
He named Macquarie University academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, asking why a taxpayer-funded academic had described the October 7 attacks as a glimmer of hope. Leeser also noted that one of the two Bondi attackers came to Australia on a student visa, and that Hamam al-Hammami, the co-pilot accused of attempting to crash a Flydubai flight in Tel Aviv, had studied at RMIT.
He was sharply critical of the government’s record, saying there had been 800 days of weakness and equivocation between October 7 and the Bondi attack. He said the Prime Minister had never wanted the Royal Commission, had not participated in it, had refused to extend its timeline and had protected his most senior ministers from appearing. “We have never had Commonwealth ministers and key decision-makers front the commission and be held to account,” he said.
In a letter to Education Minister Jason Clare on the eve of the October 7 anniversary, released publicly, Leeser asked him to take the bill to caucus and to allow it to be debated and voted on.
“This should not be a controversial matter,” he wrote. “This is not a bill about a foreign war, taking place thousands of kilometres away. It is not about the actions of a foreign government. It is about Australians, in Australia, attending public university campuses and engaging in taxpayer-funded research.”
He cited Greg Craven’s report to the Special Envoy on Antisemitism, which found that not one university had effectively adopted a definition of antisemitism. “Antisemitism is not only about Jews,” Leeser wrote. “The conduct accepted on our campuses today becomes the norm that guides our country tomorrow. This bill is not about Jews. It is about Australians, and it is about the Australia we want today and in the future.”