Uniting to defeat antisemitism
Rising antisemitism has exposed the cracks in that foundation, and we must unite to defeat a scourge which threatens the Australia we all cherish.

I don’t have to tell readers of The Australian Jewish News about the rising tide of antisemitism in our country. You have lived through it.
I have witnessed the deep distress of the community due to this rise. Holocaust survivors, reflecting on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz this week, who never believed they would see this sort of hate in Australia. Parents desperately concerned about how to protect their children from this. A sense of safety shattered.
Australia has always been a country where people from every walk of life, every faith and every culture, can come together, feel safe, and belong. As the daughter of a migrant who came to this country seeking a better life, I truly value this multicultural achievement: it is the bedrock of our success.
Rising antisemitism has exposed the cracks in that foundation, and we must unite to defeat a scourge which threatens the Australia we all cherish.
Tackling antisemitism must focus on practical action: the right laws, the right policing, the right sentencing, appropriate education, and policies that build and strengthen social cohesion.
Collectively, we must forensically examine every lever available to each level of government to drive this out.
One of the key levers available to the federal government is around hate speech. The government, with reportedly the opposition’s support, is looking to pass changes to the hate crimes laws, to make it easier to prosecute where there are specific threats of force or violence.
This is progress, but it is not enough, because these laws do not cover serious vilification on its own – hate speech if you will – that has been such a scourge on the community.
The legislation currently before the federal Parliament does not clearly target hate preachers who spout vile antisemitic speech from their pulpits.
Preachers in Australia have called Jews “bloodthirsty criminals, terrorists and monsters” and even called for a “final solution”, confident that Australian laws can’t touch them.
This is the sort of hate speech that can provoke the impressionable, unstable and evil to violence. As the head of ASIO has repeatedly said, words matter. We must find ways to stop this.
Parliamentarians must act to give police the powers they need to stamp this vilification out.
When Parliament returns next week, I will be moving amendments to give police the powers they need to stop this sort of serious vilification. These amendments are underpinned by the recommendations of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) and Equality Australia in their submissions to the Senate Inquiry on this Bill. Both the government and the opposition should support the amendments. There are precedents for these sorts of laws in places like WA – we need to make these national.
Legislative change like this is vital, but defeating antisemitism requires action across the board.
I have been working on the practical responses that make a difference since 2022.
Bringing together faith leaders from across the community so that rabbis, priests and clergy can share their concerns and come together to call for peace and social harmony.
Working with students and parents to encourage a strong unified response to antisemitism in our schools and universities.
Helping secure $8.5 million in vital funding for the Sydney Jewish Museum, as well as grants for CSG, ECAJ and community organisations to educate and strengthen bonds with the broader community.
I’ve also worked very closely and met weekly with the NSW Police, the CSG and other community groups to strengthen community security. We now have extra funding and resources from the federal and state governments to both protect us in the future and apprehend and charge the perpetrators of hate crimes.
We have made progress. Police have now made a significant number of arrests, but they can do their job more effectively with the right laws.
Amending our federal laws to introduce the offence of serious vilification will ensure that police can act quickly to stamp out hate speech before it is translated into hate crime.
Politicians on both sides are quick to parse and condemn the words of their opponents, but slow to use their legislative power to crack down on the hateful words that really matter.
When I introduce my amendment to outlaw serious vilification in Parliament, I expect both the government and the opposition to finally back their words with strong action.
Allegra Spender is the federal Member for Wentworth.
comments