‘Virus': Sad claim at anti-Semitism hearing
Last July the Federal Government appointed Australia's first Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism (ASECA), following a rise in apparent anti-Semitic attacks.
Jillian Segal AO told a hearing at NSW parliament on Friday a spate of anti-Semitic acts in NSW over the past summer have contributed to 'anxiety and unease' in the Jewish community.
'Anti-Semitism is such a terrible virus that eats away at our fundamental Australian values,' she said. Anti Semitic attacks are on the rise across the country, a parliamentary hearing has been told. NewsWire / Simon Bullard. Credit: News Corp Australia Strike Force Pearl was formed following a spate of alleged anti-Semitic attacks across NSW. NewsWire Credit: NewsWire
Since her appointment to the envoy nearly 12 months ago, Ms Segal told the parliamentary hearing she has met with many political and civil leaders across the country.
Anti-Semitic acts that Ms Segal referenced included the caravan full of explosives found in Dural, NSW in January which appeared to target the Jewish community.
'The Dural caravan contained explosives and it deliberately targeted the Jewish community and created a sense of vulnerability among the Jewish community,' she said.
Ms Segal said the assertion that the Dural caravan was 'merely a harmless hoax' and 'did not in fact terrorise the Jewish community' was false.
'Whether or not the caravan was ultimately intended to be used in a terror attack, it had the effect of causing a great deal of fear and anxiety in the Jewish community, which was already on edge following the succession of arson and graffiti attacks, as well as the terror attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne,' she said.
Ms Segal was asked about the impacts of a violent pro-Palestinian rally at the Sydney Opera House, on October 9, 2023, following Hamas attacks, and if those events 'set the tone for everything that has happened following that incident.'
'I think it was a terrible incident that did indicate to people who were underlying anti-Semitic that they could continue behaving that way,' she said.
'Anti-Semitism is a hatred and behaving that way in that community is shaped by leadership.
'Leadership is incredibly important and leader's condemning certain attitudes and behaviours sets the tone. Jillian Segal AO has spoken at a parliamentary hearing. . Supplied Credit: Supplied
'I don't think everything that has happened has been a result of that … but it was an opportunity for it to be stamped out.'
Ms Segal said Jewish Australians should not have to live in fear.
'No Jewish person should be told it's not safe to visit the opera house, or to visit a NSW hospital. Or worry about the safety of their children at a Jewish school,' she said.
Rising anti-Semitism is being seen 'everywhere', Ms Segal said, which requires a range of approaches.
'We need a whole host of responses not only individual leadership but we need legislation, condemnation and education,' she said.
'We need to make sure it doesn't in any way send the message that it is acceptable.'
Deputy Commissioner David Hudson NSW Police Force told the hearing 33 per cent of reports of hate crimes to his team have been of an anti-Semitic nature.
NSW Police have received a total of 1,121 reports of anti-Semitic acts so far in 2025, the inquiry was told.
'This type of behaviour and offending is not going away,' Mr Hudson said.
Strike force Pearl formed to investigate anti-Semitic acts, has seen 14 incidents which were on the 'higher end of the spectrum' of offending, Mr Hudson said, which included attacks and firebombing of Jewish centres and synagogues.
'We certainly believe they were anti-Semitic in nature … the Jewish community was targeted, they were putting lives in danger and ultimately I don't think we would consider it anything but anti-Semitic in nature,' he said.
Those 14 attacks were allegedly conducted by criminal networks, Mr Hudson said, with one 'individual of interest' seen as a catalyst for those incidents, who had allegedly made social media posts that were anti-Semitic in nature.
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Only the Dalai Lama and the organisation he has set up have the authority to identify his successor as the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, a senior Indian minister says, in a rare comment contradicting rival China's long-held position. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, said on Wednesday that upon his death he would be reincarnated as the next spiritual leader and that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust would be able to identify his successor. He previously said the person would be born outside China. Beijing says it has the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor as a legacy from imperial times. Kiren Rijiju, India's minister of parliamentary and minority affairs, made a rare statement on the matter on Thursday, before visiting the Dalai Lama's base in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala for the religious leader's 90th birthday on Sunday. "No one has the right to interfere or decide who the successor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be," Indian media quoted Rijiju as telling reporters. "Only he or his institution has the authority to make that decision. His followers believe that deeply. It's important for disciples across the world that he decides his succession." In response to the remarks, China's foreign ministry warned India on Friday against interfering in its domestic affairs at the expense of bilateral relations, urging it to be prudent in its words and actions. "We hope the Indian side will fully understand the highly sensitive nature of Tibet-related issues, recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the 14th Dalai Lama," spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular media conference. India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the Dalai Lama's succession plan. Rijiju, a practising Buddhist, will be joined by other Indian officials at the birthday celebrations. India is estimated to be home to tens of thousands of Tibetan Buddhists who are free to study and work there. Many Indians revere the Dalai Lama, and international relations experts say his presence in India gives New Delhi a measure of leverage with China. Relations between India and China nosedived after a deadly border clash in 2020 but are slowly improving now. Only the Dalai Lama and the organisation he has set up have the authority to identify his successor as the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, a senior Indian minister says, in a rare comment contradicting rival China's long-held position. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, said on Wednesday that upon his death he would be reincarnated as the next spiritual leader and that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust would be able to identify his successor. He previously said the person would be born outside China. Beijing says it has the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor as a legacy from imperial times. Kiren Rijiju, India's minister of parliamentary and minority affairs, made a rare statement on the matter on Thursday, before visiting the Dalai Lama's base in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala for the religious leader's 90th birthday on Sunday. "No one has the right to interfere or decide who the successor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be," Indian media quoted Rijiju as telling reporters. "Only he or his institution has the authority to make that decision. His followers believe that deeply. It's important for disciples across the world that he decides his succession." In response to the remarks, China's foreign ministry warned India on Friday against interfering in its domestic affairs at the expense of bilateral relations, urging it to be prudent in its words and actions. "We hope the Indian side will fully understand the highly sensitive nature of Tibet-related issues, recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the 14th Dalai Lama," spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular media conference. India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the Dalai Lama's succession plan. Rijiju, a practising Buddhist, will be joined by other Indian officials at the birthday celebrations. India is estimated to be home to tens of thousands of Tibetan Buddhists who are free to study and work there. Many Indians revere the Dalai Lama, and international relations experts say his presence in India gives New Delhi a measure of leverage with China. Relations between India and China nosedived after a deadly border clash in 2020 but are slowly improving now.
