Labor’s betrayal of Australian Jews
As the child of Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors, it takes a lot to shock me. But as a lifelong member – and former Vice President – of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party, I can only describe the Albanese Labor government’s announcement that Foreign Minister Penny Wong will represent our nation at the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz as shocking. It is a slap in the face to Australian Jews.
This is the same ‘leader’ who, in January 2024, in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre of 1200 innocent civilians by Hamas terrorists and the taking hostage of another 250, including the 9- month-old baby Kfir Bibas, refused to visit the Nova Festival site nor the kibbutzim where unspeakable atrocities took place. This is the same foreign minister who deploys spin in declining to condemn an International Criminal Court order seeking arrest warrants for senior members of the Israeli government based on the outrageous libel that the Jewish state is committing ‘genocide’ in Gaza, and who has ordered vote after vote in the biased United Nations demonising Israel.
Yet Wong can apparently find the time to attend an event commemorating the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp where one million Jews – including my grandmother, uncle and aunt – were murdered by a Nazi regime that sought to systematically wipe Jews off the face of the earth. A cynic would say that’s because other government dignitaries are in attendance. It’s important to be seen. If Wong does attend, perhaps she will learn about what a real genocide entails.
Much like the Nazis, on October 7 Hamas believed it was starting a war that would destroy the Jewish nation in tandem with Iran’s proxies, Hezbollah and the Houthis. In this instance, many of my family living on Kibbutzim or attending the festival were directly targeted but survived. This is the grim reality that many if not most Australian Jews and global Jewry contend with.
When the Port Arthur massacre occurred in 1996 then Prime Minister John Howard took only two weeks to achieve federal and state government agreement on reforming national gun laws. He then toured the country to defend his laws in the face of rural and regional opposition.
When the Covid pandemic began in early 2020 a national cabinet of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Premiers and Chief Ministers came together to coordinate challenges on a national basis.
Yet under Albanese’s watch it took fifteen months after the evil disease of Jew hatred exploded across university campuses, on social media and in our streets to call a national cabinet. It was constituted a month after the Adass synagogue in Melbourne was torched, other synagogues vandalized and subject to attempted arson, attacks on private property including a Sydney childcare centre and the apparent attempted assassination of Alex Ryvchin, co-leader of Australian Jewry.
The domestic terrorists committing these outrages have been emboldened by 15 months of failure by the Albanese government to show leadership. The duty – and privilege – of being entrusted with the leadership of our country demanded that the metastasising virus of antisemitism be stomped on early and firmly, that the Prime Minister stand up day after day and shoulder to shoulder with premiers, not just to offer condemnatory words but put forward concrete plans to apply the full force of police resources and the law, and solemnly promise to hunt down terrorists.
By the time national cabinet was called, the antisemitic genie was out of the bottle. Our community does not feel safe. We have felt compelled to construct ever more physical barriers to protect our communal institutions. The golden era of post-Holocaust Australian Jewry has been shattered.
In the immediate aftermath of October 7, federal Labor did condemn the massacres, asserted Israel’s right to defend itself and called for the release of the hostages. But it was all downhill from there. Albanese, Wong and the mostly cowardly members of federal caucus, including MIA so-called friends of Australian Jews and Israel, will pay a heavy price at the ballot box.
Over countless conversations over summer with longstanding Jewish Labor voters across all professions and income demographics including ALP members the refrain has been the same. Labor has lost their trust and support. They cannot bring themselves to vote Labor in 2025.
The Peter Dutton-led LNP Opposition has clearly sought to exploit the situation for political gain. This was only possible because the Labor government had so obviously failed. They have failed not only Australian Jews, but because Jews are always the canary in the coal mine of unchecked hatred and violent extremism, the government has failed in its duty to keep all Australians safe.
The Jewish vote in Australia has never been monolithic or solely focused on Jewish interests or Israel but based around the same concerns and interests shared by all Australians. In 2025, I suspect that will change dramatically. The Albanese government will reap what it has sowed.
