What can we do? As a government and a parliament we can take every opportunity to raise this, as we’re doing today, and have good legislation that prevents it. We can also work together with other parliaments, international groups, international bodies and organisations—for example, Australia became a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the IHRA, in 2019.
Full speech
Mr GEORGANAS (Adelaide) (17:36): I too rise to speak on this important motion on antisemitism. I thank the member for Macnamara for moving it. I want to say first and foremost that all of us in this place should think—I certainly do and my colleagues do—that any form of racism or discrimination based on race, religion, gender or sexuality, including antisemitism, is bad. We need to call it out. We shouldn’t stand for it, ever. But it is a problem that persists. We’ve seen a very worrying trend in recent years. Just in the past year there has been a 6.9 per cent—nearly seven per cent—increase in antisemitic incidents logged in the Australian community. This comes on top of the 35 per cent increase over the 2020-21 reporting period. This is extremely worrying, and it should be inexcusable.
What can we do? As a government and a parliament we can take every opportunity to raise this, as we’re doing today, and have good legislation that prevents it. We can also work together with other parliaments, international groups, international bodies and organisations—for example, Australia became a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the IHRA, in 2019.
We can also take a clear stand against antisemitism and any form of racism, just as the EU did last year when it outlawed the Greek political party Golden Dawn, a neofascist political party that used its status to legitimise its own aggressive antisemitic, anti-immigrant, xenophobic and anti human rights agendas. I was vocal at the time, in particular, because there was a branch of this particular party operating right here in Australia. This party had been deemed illegal overseas and it actually had a branch here in Australia.
As a government we can also take steps to protect Australia’s strong social cohesion. It is the cornerstone of what makes us one of the most successful liberal democracies and multicultural societies in the world. This is why the Australian government has committed $7.5 million to fund the Australian Human Rights Commission to complete its national antiracism framework and implement a comprehensive national antiracism strategy.
As members of parliament, we can also support our local groups and institutions that promote understanding and counter discrimination. For example, in South Australia, my own home state, we have the Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Steiner Education Centre. It is a fantastic centre. It has schoolchildren coming through learning about what took place during the Holocaust, the Second World War et cetera. The South Australian Jewish community, particularly Andrew Steiner, fought long and hard for the establishment of this museum and education centre. They do amazing and valuable work in South Australia. Its mission is to tell the story, as I said, of the Holocaust to inspire and educate South Australians to stand up against antisemitism and racism.
It’s important to remember that Holocaust denial and distortion are also forms of antisemitism. Holocaust denial and distortion generally claim that the Holocaust was invented or exaggerated as part of a plot to advance Jewish interests. This is why places like the Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Steiner Education Centre plays such an important role in fighting antisemitism and those sorts of notions.
I sincerely commend the centre’s supporters, staff and volunteers for their dedication and commitment. I support them at every opportunity. As individual members of society we also have a role to condemn antisemitism and every form of racism and discrimination. We must do this whenever and wherever we witness it. It’s never funny. It’s not a joke. It’s not just somebody throwing a line at you. It should never be tolerated.
In addition we can ensure that we educate ourselves, and we can do this by visiting the museums and centres and speaking to people who have been directly affected by antisemitism. This can help us recognise antisemitism and racism and call it out when we see it. It can also help dispel unhelpful and potentially dangerous stereotypes that we may not even know that we hold. Antisemitism, and indeed any form of racism, is possible because people or a group become dehumanised to it and accept it. History has taught us that this is so much harder to do if we meet and get to know people and hear their stories. Standing up to and condemning antisemitism and any form of racism and discrimination is something we can and must all play a part in.