Let unis pick, says Gonski

The chair of the Prime Minister’s antisemitism education taskforce told the Royal Commission on Tuesday that he would personally regard it as “a very good solution” if universities were permitted to adopt either the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism or the competing Universities Australia definition.

David Gonski, the Jewish businessman appointed in December to chair the taskforce and best known for the 2011 review of school funding that bears his name, said the choice of definition was not a matter the taskforce had resolved, and repeatedly stressed he was speaking for himself. He is a former chancellor of UNSW.

“UA’s definition has been around for two years,” Gonski said. “There are many who prefer the IHRA definition, and indeed the federal government has adopted that definition, and a number of state governments have too. So I don’t think it’s for me to say which one.”

He added: “If the interpretation were to give, say, universities an alternative of those two, I personally would regard that as a very good solution.”

Gonski also told the commission he also hoped the review of the Australian Curriculum would go beyond Holocaust studies to cover Jewish history and the Jewish contribution to Australia – a broader ask than the taskforce first made.