Anti-Semitism in Australia has reached levels not seen in his lifetime, according to Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles after a Jewish school was vandalised in Melbourne.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Mr Marles visited Mount Scopus Memorial College's Gandel Campus in the city's east after graffiti was found scrawled on its perimeter fence on Sunday.
"The levels of anti-Semitism that we have seen in the past few months are more than any that I've seen during my lifetime," he told reporters at the school on Monday.
"The sorts of words that we saw written on the walls of this school have no place in our society and it is critically important that at this moment, the nation stands up against this anti-Semitism.
"There is no place for Islamophobia either and there is no place for prejudice against communities in this country."
The school's principal Dan Sztrajt said the community was hurting.
"What happened outside the front gate is a product of unchecked racism, unchecked anti-Semitism directed at this community," he said.
This incident follows other anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents that have been inflamed by violence in the Middle East.
On October 7, designated terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1200 people and taking more than 200 hostages, according to Tel Aviv.
Israel retaliated, launching a bombing campaign and counter-offensive in Gaza that, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, has killed nearly 36,000 Palestinians, injured more than 80,000 and displaced more than 1.7 million.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud said he understood there were pressures in the Middle East but Australian communities needed to maintain cohesion.
"I get there's tension in the Middle East but it should stay in the Middle East - that needs to stay there," he told reporters in Canberra.
"What we saw on the weekend was abhorrent - I mean that sort of stuff we saw back in the 30s and 40s."
The federal government is working on new hate speech laws that will enforce criminal penalties for serious instances of vilification based on sexuality, gender, race and religion.
Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said the coalition supports the move.
"We look forward to working with the government in a bipartisan way to deal with this issue, and in particular, to deal with anti-Semitism, which we're seeing sadly grow and grow in this nation," he told reporters in Canberra.
"So we will work with the government in a bipartisan way to support for laws which will deal with these issues in particular."
Mr Littleproud said the coalition would need to see the contents of the bill first before they offer support.
"We're not going to rush into this," he said.
"We need to see the detail and make sure there's no unintended consequences and then we get the balance right between this great thing that we have called freedom of speech and democracy."
Australian Associated Press
