By Jake Evans, ABC political reporter
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government has taken action on a number of suggestions by the special envoy to combat antisemitism. Photo: AFP / Australian Prime Minister's Office
A report that has sat on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's desk for months is being raised by critics as key evidence that the federal government has done too little, too late to respond to the rising tide of antisemitism since the 7 October terror attack in Israel.
Albanese hand-picked Jillian Segal in 2024 to develop a plan to combat antisemitism, and she delivered the plan standing alongside the prime minister and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in July.
The review, which makes sweeping recommendations that would have consequences for police, universities, media outlets, arts institutions and the wider Australian culture, has not been formally responded to.
Jewish leaders say that plan could have helped put a stop to a "permissive" culture of antisemitism.
Speaking on Monday afternoon, Albanese said his government had acted "and will continue to act on the implementation of the plan".
Albanese pointed to his government's strengthening of hate speech laws and a ban on Nazi and other hate symbols, the creation of a national student ombudsman to address antisemitism on campuses, and its support of Segal's work on a "university report card" assessing responses to antisemitism.
The prime minister said the government had also enhanced social cohesion programmes, provided funding for enhanced security at Jewish institutions, and was reviewing training for migration officials screening applicants for hateful views and conduct.
But in the wake of Sunday's massacre in Bondi, where a father and son murdered more than a dozen people at a Hanukkah event at the popular tourist destination, Jewish leaders are asking why many opportunities to act more fiercely against antisemitism were not taken up.
Protests, synagogue attacks, doxxing named as missed chances to stop hate
Since October 2023, Australia has witnessed mass protests against Israel's war in Gaza.
There also have been arson attacks at synagogues, the homes of Jewish leaders being targeted, Jewish people being "doxxed", businesses boycotted, and Jewish schools and property being targeted by vandals.
The antisemitism envoy has pointed to a protest at the Sydney Opera House on 9 October, 2023 in the aftermath of the Hamas terror attack, and a mass demonstration across the Sydney Harbour Bridge against the war in Gaza earlier this year, as high profile moments where government messaging was insufficient.
Jewish leaders say there will be a reckoning in the wake of the Bondi terror attack. Photo: ABC News: Jak Rowland
In February, Australia's spy chief Mike Burgess identified antisemitism as the single greatest security threat Australia faced.
And the envoy has identified a 300 percent increase in antisemitic incidents in Australia since the 7 October terror attack by Hamas.
Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg said inaction across successive antisemitic incidents in the past two and a half years had led to a "cascading environment of hate".
He said political and civil leaders had not done enough, including on Segal's report.
"It has sat on [the prime minister's] desk. If that is not a metaphor for the failure of government to act with the urgency that we need, I don't know what is," Frydenberg told the ABC.
"I listened to the prime minister tell the Holocaust survivors ... that, in his own words, he would not allow antisemitism to get a foothold in Australia. Well, what a failure that has been.
"Everything must change, everything must be on the table. The government and the opposition must come together on the advice of security agencies and with the input from the Jewish community.
"The law must be enforced. People who are spewing hate unimpeded today must be stopped."
Labor MP Josh Burns said the government must take accountability for the Bondi massacre.
Antisemitism plan's implications for free speech
The Coalition and Segal herself have demanded the government fully endorse the antisemitism plan.
Segal's plan was received with some trepidation by parts of the community when it was delivered in July, in part because of the significant implications it could have for free speech in Australia.
While Segal has not suggested the recommendations she put would directly have prevented the Bondi massacre, Jewish community leaders say excuse-making by political and civil leaders has minimised antisemitism and led to a "permissive" culture.
Jillian Segal (L) and Alex Ryvchin, the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry at a media conference in Sydney on 9 October 2023. Photo: AFP
A senior community source familiar with the envoy's antisemitism plan said it would be critical for the government to endorse it and "draw a line in the sand".
"If you don't, this is what happens," they said.
"Can we put our hand on heart and say as Australia we did everything we could? I am not sure we can."
Key recommendations from Jillian Segal's antisemitism plan
The source said they expected the envoy to begin drawing up specific action plans, likely broken down by department, to guide the government in the next steps of its response.
Privately, conversations have also begun on the issue of migration.
The Coalition is yet to release its migration policy review, but it has already flagged it will push for stronger "values tests" for people seeking to enter Australia.
But for the next week at least, Jewish groups say they will still be mourning the loss at Bondi.
Segal said the government could leave no doubt that it would respond with a "full-throttle" approach.
"It can't do this in a half-hearted fashion," she said on Monday.
Albanese has committed to extending funding for security to protect Jewish institutions.
The prime minister also proposed tougher gun laws, including limits to how many guns an individual could own, in the wake of the attack.
- ABC
