Wilson pledges protest laws at Bondi book launch

Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has promised to review and withdraw taxpayer funding from Broadmeadows Islamic organisation MyCentre, as part of a crackdown on hate speech and protests if the Coalition wins next month’s state election.

Wilson made the pledges while launching Bondi Terror, by Sharri Markson and Alex Ryvchin, at Caulfield Shule on Sunday afternoon.

“It is an indictment on our nation that we are even here in the first place,” she said. “A book like this should have never had to exist.”

She said a Coalition government would review funding for organisations that promote hatred or incite violence, singling out MyCentre, which is headed by cleric Samir Mohtadi, known as Abu Hamza. A hate preacher should not be subsidised by Victorian taxpayers, she said.

“Not one cent of taxpayer money should go to organisations that promote antisemitism or extremism.”

Wilson also pledged to expand bans on speech amounting to incitement to violence, including the slogan “globalise the intifada”, and to introduce move-on laws and protest permits.

The book documents the December 14, 2025, attack on a Chanukah celebration at Bondi Beach and the antisemitic incidents that preceded it after October 7, 2023. Wilson said Bondi was “the culmination” of that period.

She admitted she had lost track of the scale of antisemitism in Australia until she read the book’s list of incidents, because it had “become so normalised”.

Documenting the attack mattered, she said, “so that no one can ever deny, diminish, or rewrite what happened”.

Wilson said the gunmen had set out to murder Zionists and had come to a Chanukah event to target Jews, a point she said had been lost in mainstream coverage.

“Zionism is not a slur, but a proud reflection of the Jewish people and their ancestral and spiritual connection to the land of Israel,” she said.

She said community members had told her they did not want higher walls or tighter security as a long-term answer.

“Jewish parents should not have to walk past armed guards to drop their kids at school,” she said. “You should be able to celebrate a Jewish festival on the beach without the threat of being murdered. That is not an acceptable set of circumstances in Australia in 2026.”

She opened her speech by addressing last week’s attack on federal Indi MP Helen Haines, saying “this is not the Victoria we know”.

The launch was hosted by Caulfield Shule senior rabbi Rabbi Daniel Rabin. Shule president Dr Howard Zimer, Deputy Opposition Leader David Southwick, Liberal MP Georgia Crozier, Liberal Senator James Paterson and Labor Senator Raff Ciccone were among those present.