Labor government targets antisemitic school reform
The Labor government believes teachers have a role to play in educating young Australians about attitudes towards Jewish people.
The government is expected to provide funding to expand social cohesion programs for kids and establish a national holocaust centre in Canberra.

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Perth Now
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- Perth Now
Website, business name-slanging in election campaign
Paul Lennon has poked Tasmania's election campaign, exposing what he says is a non-serious policy. (Ethan James/AAP PHOTOS) Paul Lennon has poked Tasmania's election campaign, exposing what he says is a non-serious policy. (Ethan James/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP Liberal and Labor leaders have traded barbs over a website address and a signature policy business name as Tasmania's election campaign enters its final week. The island state is heading to the polls on July 19, some six weeks after minority Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff lost a vote of no-confidence in parliament. The Liberals, who have been in power since 2014, have governed in minority since 2023 with voter surveys pointing to another hung parliament. Former Labor premier Paul Lennon has thrown a spanner in the works of the Liberals by registering the business name TasInsure. TasInsure is the Liberals' self-described signature campaign pledge to create a state-owned insurer. The Liberals returned serve somewhat, setting up a website at after the Labor-named pledge to create five government-run bulk-billed GP clinics. Mr Rockliff, whose party has committed to matching Labor's TassieDoc plan, denied his party was playing political games. "(The website) is simply explaining a policy," he told reporters on Saturday. Mr Lennon told The Australian he registered TasInsure to expose the fact it wasn't a serious proposal. Labor leader Dean Winter said he wasn't concerned about the Liberals claiming because information would be available on official health channels if he was elected. He said Mr Rockliff had gone to the trouble of making TasInsure merchandise without providing costs or any modelling about why the proposal stacks up. "What Jeremy Rockliff has been doing is running around with hats and posters telling people about policy that has no detail to it," Mr Winter said. The no-confidence motion against Mr Rockliff, put forward by Labor and supported by the Greens and three crossbench members, was critical of his budget management. Tasmania's net debt is set to more than double to almost $11 billion in 2028/29, according to the most recent budget. An increased number of voters have already made up their minds ahead of the election, Tasmania's second in two years and fourth in seven years. Almost 54,000 people have cast pre-poll votes heading into the final week of campaigning, more than double the 26,000 figure at the equivalent point in 2024. The Liberals hold 14 seats and Labor 10 in the state's 35-seat lower house.

Sky News AU
37 minutes ago
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Penny Wong ‘softening up' the Chinese ahead of Albanese's Beijing trip
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West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Protests, criticisms of anti-Semitism report continue
Pro-Palestine protesters have marched in small numbers in the wake of a contentious plan to combat anti-Semitism including the assertion funds should be stripped from non-compliant arts bodies. The recommendation to axe support for publicly funded institutions and festivals that promote or fail to effectively deal with hate speech features in a report by Australia's anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal. The federal government is considering the advice in a bid to combat growing discrimination against Jewish Australians. Criticism of the report has also focused on Ms Segal's recommendation Australia adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism, some arguing that it conflates the notion with criticism of Israel and Zionism. While "unequivocally" condemning anti-Semitism, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils says it is deeply concerned by the report. "This plan, drafted by a politically appointed, unelected official, risks undermining free expression, marginalising already vulnerable communities and conflating legitimate criticism of the State of Israel and its policies with anti-Semitism," it said on Saturday. "Combating anti-Semitism is a shared responsibility but it cannot come at the cost of justice, free speech and the equal treatment of all communities," council president Rateb Jneid added. Racial justice organisation Democracy in Colour said the swift establishment of resources, recommendations and government attention for combating anti-Semitism stood in stark contrast to responses to other forms of racism. The "selective urgency" exposed a "hierarchy of racism that continues to operate within our democratic institutions". "The government's response pattern reveals a concerning truth: some forms of racism receive red-carpet treatment while others are relegated to performative gestures and token appointments," director Noura Mansour said. About 50 diehard protesters gathered in central Sydney on Saturday afternoon in opposition to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and what they argue is Australia's wrongful participation in it. The mostly silent action, outside the offices of defence contractor BAE Systems, continued months of similar demonstrations which have been staged in capital cities at weekends. A larger protest has been scheduled for Sunday in the city's Hyde Park and another will go ahead in Melbourne. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday steps were already being taken to silence the behaviour Ms Segal had identified, pointing to a decision to block controversial US rapper Kanye West from entering the country after he released a song titled Heil Hitler. "We screen people ... when they apply for visas it's something that we make sure that we represent Australia's national interests," he told reporters. Ms Segal said criticisms of her findings misunderstood the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. "(It) clearly says if Israel is criticised, that's absolutely fine - and indeed, so many Israelis are criticising the policies of their own government," she told ABC Radio. Several other Jewish groups called for her recommendations to be adopted in full. They include embedding Holocaust education into school curriculums and strengthening legislation against hateful conduct, in addition to terminating or withholding funds from universities, broadcasters and cultural institutions that fail to address anti-Semitism. Ms Segal's report found threats, vandalism and physical violence against Jewish Australians tripled between October 2023 and September 2024. Australia's government-appointed envoy to combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, says he will soon provide "comprehensive" recommendations to the prime minister.