National Inquiry into Antisemitism

Hon. Anthony Albanese MHR
Prime Minister of Australia
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

We, the undersigned, are members of the Australian Labor Party. Many of us are longstanding members. Many of us are members of an affiliated trade union. Some of us are Life Members of the ALP. We campaign for the ALP on election day, and on the days in between.

We are passionate about Labor and proud of its history as the party of economic and social reform.

For at least the last sixty years it is Labor that stood up for minorities and opposed racism and discrimination in all its forms.

It has been an article of faith in the modern progressive movement, of which the ALP has been the vanguard, that our movement opposes racism.

It is Labor that ended the White Australia Policy, it is Labor that enacted the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, it is Labor that proposed an indigenous voice to Parliament.

This is a proud legacy, and one that Labor must strive to retain.

Over the last two years and three months, we have witnessed the rising tide of discrimination in this country; a growing acceptance of antisemitism.

Dressed up as legitimate concern for the Palestinian communities of Gaza and the West Bank, this modern twist on the world’s oldest hate has had an untold impact on Australia’s Jewish community.

We have been witness to peace marches chanting violent slogans and brandishing Al Qaeda and ISIS flags; misinformation, disinformation and nasty tropes spread on social media; the boycotting of Jewish-owned businesses; the doxing of Jewish artists; protests outside Jewish places of worship; harassment of Jewish school and university students; vandalism in so-called Jewish suburbs and the firebombing of two Synagogues to name just some examples.

Australia has not seen such an increase in bigotry in living memory.

In the face of this, so many of Australia’s treasured national institutions – from state owned media outlets, to universities, to arts institutions, to trade unions and NGOs – have all played their role in the hate; collectively or individually engaging in anti-Israel rhetoric, the propagation of one-sided narratives, turning a blind-eye to, minimising or excusing outright antisemitism or all of the above.

We have never seen such a minimisation of racism on such a grand scale, not least by those who regard themselves as institutionally progressive.

While criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza may be legitimate, so much of it has strayed wilfully or carelessly into outright antisemitism. It needn’t have been this way.

We hope that the tragic events of 14 December are a wake-up call to Australia’s governments: unchecked antisemitism has consequences. Hate left unchallenged is emboldened. The hate one walks past is the hate one accepts.

We congratulate the Australian, New South Wales, and Victorian and governments on the actions they have taken or announced they will take to combat antisemitism and for recognise rising levels of Jew-hate for what it is.

We respectfully urge the Australian Labor Government to now establish a Commission of Inquiry into antisemitism in this country. This inquiry must examine the state, and causes, of Australia’s antisemitism problem and recommend a blueprint to heal our fractured social cohesion.

We accept these problems are complex, multifaceted and will take time to examine and address, but good things are worth waiting for.

It is only with a Royal Commission that Australia will be able to fully recognise the breadth of depth of the illness that has been allowed to fester over the last two years.

Without this, we cannot address the problem at its root cause.

Opaqueness is a win for the deniers, minimisers and propagators of hate.