A member of Mallee’s Jewish community has written to Dr Anne Webster MP concerned about community safety after the terror attack on a Melbourne synagogue on Friday morning.

“As an Australian I am ashamed that a global travel warning has been issued to Jewish people warning about the danger in visiting our country. I am also dismayed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted on Friday (Tel Aviv time) his anger at the synagogue attack and the ‘extreme anti-Israeli position of the Labor government in Australia’” Dr Webster said.

“The Prime Minister has shown weak leadership on anti-Semitism.  He did not immediately visit the Adass Israel Synagogue at Ripponlea nor did he swiftly condemn the firebombing as a terrorist attack. The Albanese Government's initial response to demonstrations - supporting the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks - on the steps of the Sydney Opera House was completely and utterly inadequate. Further protests went on for many months at our university campuses demonstrating hatred – not just towards students – but academics and other visiting fellows. The discrimination and blatant racism that we've seen against people of Jewish faith and heritage has been obvious on a daily basis.”

A Jewish Mallee constituent wrote to Dr Webster on Monday, responding to fellow Jewish Mallee residents’ recent safety concerns before Friday’s events:

“I initially thought their apprehension might have been a little unfounded, but the arson attack on the Synagogue in Melbourne indicates that their fears are justified.”  

The constituent’s personal information has been withheld for safety reasons.

Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton MP, spoke at the Adass synagogue on Monday, saying:

“We need to make sure that the anti-Semitism that has now become commonplace in our society, is repelled at every opportunity, and we need to make sure that as a society, we stand united with the Jewish community and let them know that we do not tolerate any act of anti-Semitism in our country.”

“I and my Coalition colleagues stand with Jewish Australians.  Jewish people in Mallee now fear for their safety.  It is an indictment on our society and education system that anti-Semitism did not end at the Holocaust, and we must now be deliberate in our efforts to stamp it out,” Dr Webster said.

On Monday the Coalition pledged to establish an anti-Semitism taskforce if it wins the next election, led by the Australian Federal Police and featuring the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the Australian Border Force, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).  Prime Minister Albanese later that day echoed that announcement.

For over 12 months the Coalition has been calling for very serious consequences for people who engage in anti-Semitic behaviour.  Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Victorian Senator James Paterson, said on Friday at the firebombed synagogue:

“If you can protest in the streets with a Hezbollah flag or Hamas logo and no one is charged and no one is arrested and no one sent to jail, then unfortunately, the extremists that we do have in our community will become emboldened, and we need to see decisive action to punish the perpetrators.”

Dr Webster said the Coalition will take strong action on community safety.

“An incoming Coalition government will act from day one to fix Labor’s law enforcement crisis through policy measures that demonstrate strong action and national leadership, both of which have been sadly lacking from the Albanese Labor Government,” Dr Webster said.

United-States based global Jewish human rights organisation the Simon Wiesenthal Centre issued a travel warning to Jewish people around the world, citing “the failure of Australian authorities to stand up against persistent demonization, harassment and violence against Jews and Jewish institutions in Australia.”

Dr Webster addressed Parliament in October - marking the 1 year anniversary of the October 7 attacks - saying “Not one terrorist sympathiser should remain on a visa in our country. Shamefully, the Labor government, politically stuck between a rock and a Greens place, has lacked leadership and the ticker to stand up to the antisemitic sentiment and to terrorist sympathisers and their political enablers here and across Australia.”

See also this statement from Dr Webster on 5 October 2024: Australia must reject anti-Semitism

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