NSW government to probe anti-Semitism response amid concerns about anti-hate laws

News.com.au

17-05-2025

A peak Jewish body has claimed controversial anti-protest laws introduced by the NSW government in a bid to crack down on alleged anti-Semitic incidents have not made many in the community feel safer on the eve of the first public hearing into the issue.
Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers MP Robert Borsak will chair the first hearing in state parliament on Monday of the NSW Legislative Council's inquiry into anti-Semitism in NSW, alongside Greens MLC Amanda Cohn and MLCs from Labor and the Liberals.
The inquiry seeks to examine the underlying causes behind the 'increasing prevalence and severity' of anti-Semitism in NSW as well as the 'threat to social cohesion' it presents and how the safety of the state's Jewish community 'might be enhanced'.
It comes after a string of high-profile anti-Semitic incidents across Greater Sydney over the summer, some of which police now allege were part of a criminal conspiracy, prompting the Labor government to introduce harsh new anti-hate laws.
The laws, which criminalise a range of activities outside places of worship, were criticised by Jewish Council of Australia executive officer Sarah Schwartz, who said the 'law and order measures' failed to address the root causes of anti-Semitism in Australia.
'The government needs to get serious about addressing the root causes of hatred,' Ms Schwartz said. 'The measures they are proposing are really after-the-fact measures – law and order measures. There is no evidence that they actually reduce racism.'
She said there was a 'serious issue of racism and anti-Semitism', including a rise in right-wing extremism and 'anti-Semitic stunts' and urged state and federal governments to invest in long-term prevention and education to disrupt far-right recruitment.
The Jewish Council of Australia was founded in February 2024 and is co-led by Ms Schwartz, a human rights lawyer, and historian Max Kaiser. It was one of more than 70 organisations, individuals and government bodies to submit to the inquiry.
In its submission, the council urged the government to adopt a 'unified commitment to opposing all forms of racism' that did not create 'hierarchies of racism' and to target systemic causes, including of Islamophobia and an anti-Palestinian racism.
'What we've seen is the often very deliberate conflation of anti-Semitism, which is hatred of Jewish people, with criticism of the state of Israel … the government shouldn't be suppressing free speech which should be allowed to criticise nation states,' she said.
Ms Schwartz said conflating Judaism and the state of Israel 'makes us (Jewish people) less safe in our identities' and warned that the tying of the state government's anti-hate laws with anti-Semitism specifically also put the community at further risk.
'There's been this sort of false connection between anti-Semitic incidents and protests, which hasn't been borne out. That, on its own, is quite dangerous,' she said.
'If the government continues to single out anti-Semitism and just make laws they say for the benefit of the Jewish community, the message that it sends to every other racialised group is that anti-Semitism is a more serious form of racism.'
Dural caravan conspiracy
A separate inquiry was launched in April into the 'relationship between the Dural caravan incident and parliamentary debates on legislation', namely the so-called anti-protest laws, with an initial hearing held that same month.
A Bill was introduced on February 11 and passed on February 20, less than a month after news of the van, a fabricated terrorist plot targeting the Jewish community, first broke and gives new powers to police in regard to protests at or near places of worship and increases criminal penalties.
The government did not point to the caravan as the reason for the Bill and instead cited a series of anti-Semitic arson and graffiti attacks in Sydney. Some of those incidents were later connected to the Dural criminal conspiracy.
NSW Council of Civil Liberties president Tim Roberts cautioned the government that it couldn't 'legislate our way to social cohesion' and there was a risk that 'in trying to limit speech and out ability to protest, that we cut off our nose despite our face'.
'In trying to respond to difficult circumstances in a kneejerk way, without hearing from the community before those laws are made, they're going to make mistakes. They've made mistakes, and our community suffers as a whole,' he said.
He went on to add: 'The more we push speech into the back corners of some Reddit forum, somewhere where anti-Semitism and hate festers because we're using police powers to try and limit and enforce it, the more as a community we can't identify, solve and respond to and reject a problem, and these laws don't help us do that.'
Mr Roberts said the NSWCLL recommended that the government changed the laws.
'While I think everyone in the room that's behaving sensibly here sees that there's some problems with what's happened, there's not a lot of motivation to change those laws,' he said.
While the inquiry will focus on the state's response, local councils have also responded to the reported rise in anti-Semitism.
Sydney's Waverley City Council is home to the state's largest Jewish population and has been rocked by high-profile anti-Semitic and anti-Israel attacks and incidents.
In its submission to the inquiry, the council reported several incidents, including a synagogue being defaced with Nazi symbols and Jewish schoolchildren being targeted.
'The level of anti-Semitism experienced in the local community has been abhorrent, deliberate and has caused real harm,' Mayor Will Namesh said.
'Waverley Council has taken a comprehensive approach by working with local law enforcement for community safety, developing and implementing a first-of-its-kind local government strategy to combat anti-Semitism.
'By launching this strategy, Waverley Council is taking a proactive stance in ensuring that anti-Semitism is confronted and that all residents can thrive in an environment of mutual respect and social cohesion.'
Mr Namesh said the council had been advocating to state and federal governments for 'direct action to support and protect the Jewish community'.
'As the level of government closest to the people, local councils have a critical role in fostering inclusive, safe, and connected communities,' he said.
'As mayor, in addition to supporting the anti-Semitism inquiry, I also call on the state government to support funding for local government initiatives.'
Jewish community voices concern
More than 70 submissions were made to the inquiry ahead of the first hearing on Monday, including from individuals, Jewish representative groups, and civil rights organisations.
The inquiry will also seek to examine incidents on school and university campuses in NSW following an earlier inquiry into the Anti-Semitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024.
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) referred in its submission to a December 2024 interim report into reports of racism at Australian universities, including acts of anti-Semitism.
The report found 'both interpersonal and structural racism' was 'pervasive and deeply entrenched' at the country's universities, including towards Muslim and Palestinian students.
Students reported to AHRC being made to feel 'unsafe and unwelcome' because of racism, while staff said they felt 'othered' and less confident expressing their identity or opinions.
More than 20 individuals, many of Jewish heritage, provided submissions to the inquiry.
Many, like Sam Altman, highlighted a need to combat anti-Semitism but said that it must 'be part of a broader anti-racism movement rooted in solidarity' with 'all marginalised groups'.
The child of Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivors said: 'Efforts to address anti-Semitism through criminalisation or by exceptionalising it above other forms of racism are counter-productive.'
Others, like Rose Saltman, feared 'any criticism of Israel be conflated with anti-Semitism' and blamed 'public figures' for exacerbating both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
'At this time of unconscionable brutality by Israel in Palestine, should the NSW government be swayed by a partisan political campaign exploiting some real concerns to redefine anti-Semitism to stifle political speech and action?' Martin Munz said in his submission.
Other individuals who made submissions to the parliamentary inquiry included former Middle East correspondent David Leser and Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane.