The announcement on 19 October was that the Albanese government has committed to support Australian communities affected by the Hamas attacks on Israel, an ongoing conflict, including $25 million to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Incorporated and $25 million to the Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities affected by the conflict—I’m reading from the joint press release. Was that the intent—to provide $25 million to the Jewish community through the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and $25 million to the Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities? Was that the intent—to provide equal funds?
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: I want to move onto a different subject, which is the $50 million in community grants that the government announced on 19 October last year.
Ms Foster : We will get probably Mr Kirkwood up to the table for that.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: While Mr Kirkwood is coming up I might just ask a preliminary question of you, Secretary. The announcement on 19 October was that the Albanese government has committed to support Australian communities affected by the Hamas attacks on Israel, an ongoing conflict, including $25 million to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Incorporated and $25 million to the Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities affected by the conflict—I’m reading from the joint press release. Was that the intent—to provide $25 million to the Jewish community through the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and $25 million to the Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities? Was that the intent—to provide equal funds?
Ms Foster : I’m just wondering exactly—when you say, ‘Was that the intent?’ I’m not quite sure what you mean. I mean, clearly, the government announcement said, ‘We’re going to provide $25 million here and $25 million there.’ So, factually, that’s correct. I’m just not sure what the question is getting to.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Alright. But the intent was $25 million to one community and $25 million to the other collection of communities? That was the intent?
Ms Foster : That was the outcome.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: So why didn’t you do it?
Ms Foster : I believe we have, but Mr Smyth will jump in and help us.
Mr Smyth : There was a total package of $87.8 million that was funded. That was to support affected communities and to address social cohesion implications of the conflict.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Well, I’m looking at the reporting. Has the $25 million been provided to the executive council?
Mr Smyth : There was $25 million that was allocated to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. That was announced and delivered through the Attorney-General’s portfolio.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: But that’s been paid?
Mr Smyth : My understanding is that’s correct.
CHAIR: Also, Senator Shoebridge, you well know, because we’ve asked question about this before, that the Attorney-General’s Department does have ownership of part of this program, as I understand it, and those questions will be relevant tomorrow when we have the Attorney-General’s Department in front of us.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: You’ll be pleased to know I’m going to move on from the $25 million that’s been paid. The $25 million that was meant to go to Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities—$7 million of that was instead allocated to the Australian Associated Press, SBS, the Human Rights Commission, the Islamophobia register of Australia and the Islamophobia Australia imams council. Why is money that was set aside for the Palestinian community going to the AAP and SBS?
Mr Smyth : The funding was not set aside for the Palestinian community. The overall package of measures was designed to address the implications around social cohesion and particular affected communities in response to the events of 7 October.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: But the secretary told me, in an answer just before you came to the desk, that the intent was to provide $25 million—
CHAIR: No, you put that in the question, and now we see why the words ‘tricky’ and ‘nasty’—
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: to the Jewish Australian community and $25 million to the—and I’ll read out directly what I put to the secretary—
CHAIR: Just because you put it doesn’t make it true, Senator Shoebridge.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: from the minister’s media release:
… $25 million to Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities affected by the conflict.
Why was $7 million diverted instead to AAP and SBS?
Mr Smyth : Senator, the funding that was allocated to the AAP and SBS, which I think is in the order of around $3 million or so, was directly related to issues that related to misinformation—fact-checking to ensure that there was more accurate reporting in terms of what was going on in the conflict—so that media organisations would be able to utilise the services of SBS and the AAP to ensure that accurate information was being portrayed in the media.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: But accurate reporting would benefit both the Australian Jewish community and the Australian Palestinian diaspora. Why did that money only come from the $25 million set aside to support the Palestinian, Muslim communities?
Mr Smyth : Well, Senator, as I said, the overall package was looking at issues around social cohesion and the impact of the events of 7 October on Australian society. It was not that there was a clear line in the sand as to how much money was allocated to each particular group. There was a separate announcement, yes, to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, but there were discussions that occurred with the minister’s office around where funding would and could be allocated to particular organisations. There were certainly some difficulties that we encountered in terms of determining and finding appropriate organisations within the Palestinian community that were able to absorb the funding and meet the objectives of what the funding was addressing at the time.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: You see, Mr Smyth, I accept that that’s your evidence as best as you can understand the program. It’s just that that conflicts with what the minister said in the minister’s press release, that there was:
… $25 million to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Inc (ECAJ) and $25 million to Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities affected by the conflict.
It turns out there wasn’t $25 million going to Palestinian, Muslim and other communities, because a bunch of that was being redirected to SBS and AAP. So, Minister, why didn’t the government make good on its promise and direct those funds to the Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities affected by the conflict? Why did they divert millions of dollars to the AAP and SBS?
Senator Watt: Obviously, I mean, I don’t directly know the answer to that question. That is a question that only the minister and the minister’s office can answer, and it’s actually probably therefore appropriate that I take it on notice.
Ms Foster : But, Senator, I can add that as we were developing the proposals we consulted with the affected communities. So Mr Smyth’s evidence is illustrating that this was a response to the situation and that there were a number of ways in which we could respond to the needs and requirements of the Muslim Palestinian communities, and this was one of them.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Secretary, you’re not seriously telling this committee that the reason you diverted millions of dollars, which were targeted for the Palestinian and Muslim communities—
CHAIR: That’s not what she’s saying.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: to the AAP and SBS was that that’s what those communities told you in consultations they wanted to have happen? You’re not seriously making the proposition?
Ms Foster : Senator, let me repeat my evidence. It was that in determining how to allocate the funding we consulted with affected communities.
Senator Watt: And you will recall, Senator Shoebridge, that at the time of this funding commitment—and indeed still—there was huge anxiety in Islamic communities, the Palestinian community, the broader Middle Eastern communities, about media coverage and the risk of Islamophobia. So my understanding is—and Ms Foster has just made this point—that Islamic communities, Middle Eastern communities were consulted around the distribution of that $25 million. I mean, we’ve been criticised before by the Liberal Party for how money was distributed to the Jewish community and what was in and what was not. And, again, that money was distributed on the basis of consultation with that community. And that’s what happened here as well.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: The $25 million for the Jewish community was provided to an organisation, to a single organisation, for them to distribute. That’s the approach the government took—
Senator Watt: And my understanding is it was at the request of the Jewish community, and a different approach was taken with Islamic communities at the request of and in consultation with those community.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: You say ‘at the request’. Which Palestinian—
Senator Watt: Well, in consultation with those communities.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: No Palestinian community requested you to give $3 million—
Senator Watt: I’m happy to come back on notice on which groups—
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: to the AAP and SBS.
Senator Watt: Well, how do you know that?
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Because they are desperately seeking funds to feed families who have come over after fleeing Gaza, when your government won’t give them any money.
Senator Watt: But how do you know that—
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: They’re desperately needing basic resources—
Senator SCARR: Point of order.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: to deal with the—
CHAIR: Senator Shoebridge. Senator Scarr has a point of order.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: He keeps asking me questions.
Senator SCARR: Sorry, can I make my point of order?
CHAIR: If you have a point of order.
Senator SCARR: The minister is again asking questions of members of the committee.
CHAIR: Senator Scarr, I did call the minister to order. Senator Shoebridge, what is your question?
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Is the information on the Home Affairs website correct when it says that, of the $25 million that was originally set aside to support Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities, $17.47 million has now been set aside for affected Palestinian, Muslim and other communities? Is that the right figure, Mr Smyth?
Mr Smyth : I would say that, as per the evidence that has been given, there was consultation that occurred with affected communities as to where the money would potentially go, and each of the elements, including funding to the Human Rights Commission, SBS and AAP, does go to addressing community concerns that relate to the ongoing implications, from a social cohesion perspective, of the events of 7 October.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: How much of the $25 million set aside to support Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities has actually now been paid out?
Mr Smyth : I’d have to take that on notice to get an accurate figure for you.
Mr Kirkwood : Of the $25 million that you are referencing, which is to support Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities, the delivery of that package is well progressed, with over $17.09 million of funding now committed and in various stages of implementation. There are two final elements of the program that are currently underway. The Social Policy Group is expected to launch a $4 million grassroots community grants process very shortly. I’m expecting that to come out in the coming week. That will allow for an open process for the community to apply for grants of up to $50,000 to support grassroots community activities. The department is also conducting targeted community consultation with Palestinian and Muslim communities to design a further open grants round for over $5.6 million of remaining funds, and that process is underway currently.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Do you have a list of all the payments that have been made and/or the commitments that have been made?
Mr Kirkwood : I have a list of the organisations the government has committed to funding. This is being managed through the DSS Community Grants Hub, and they are administering the individual arrangements with each organisation. So—
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Is that for the $17.09 million?
Mr Kirkwood : Correct.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Rather than have you read them out, are you in a position to table a document that sets it out?
Mr Kirkwood : I don’t have that with me today. I could take that on notice. We will obtain that information from the Community Grants Hub and provide it to you.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Minister, the representatives of the Palestinian community I’ve been speaking to say it looks like there’s one rule for them and a different rule for the Jewish community. The Jewish community got the money. It was paid to a peak organisation to be distributed in accordance with the wishes of the Jewish community. They said that’s understood. But, when it comes to funding for Palestinian and Muslim communities, money still hasn’t come out. A bunch of it has been diverted to unrelated media organisations, and they’re still waiting for the funding. They say they don’t feel like they’re being treated the same. And they haven’t been, have they? They haven’t been treated the same.
Senator Watt: That is your characterisation of the situation. I remind you, as I’ve said before, that the distribution of the $25 million set aside to support Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities was decided in consultation with those communities. The decision to allocate some money to media organisations, as I understand it, was based on those communities’ very real concerns about media portrayal of their communities.
Grants processes are now underway to distribute grants to local community groups, something those communities said was important to them. What I can see is that we are supporting both the Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities and the Jewish community in an even-handed way. The same amount of money is being distributed in consultation with those communities.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: I’ve got nothing else on this.