TV INTERVIEW - SKY NEWS WITH KIERAN GILBERT

WEDNESDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2024

KIERAN GILBERT: Let's go live now to the Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, who joins us. Thanks for your time. What's the latest on the investigation? If we can start on that synagogue attack that Trudy just alluded to, what's the latest advice you have?

MINISTER TONY BURKE: Look, I was at the synagogue yesterday afternoon. When you're there, I've got to say the contrast, side by side of seeing the horror of the evil of the attack with ancient books just in cinders at your feet, and alongside that you've got the incredible generosity and dignity of the leaders of the Adass Synagogue. You could not find two more contrasting moments. The destruction representing something that has absolutely no place in Australia and the dignity and decency of those community leaders of the Melbourne Jewish community that shows everything about the best of Australia. The two were there side by side. The investigation itself is obviously being led by our security agencies. My Home Affairs counter-terrorism people are engaged with the issue there, but I don't think it's helpful for me to add anything in advance of when police feel that they're ready to say something more publicly.

KIERAN GILBERT: Let's get to some of the criticism because we've seen another antisemitic attack in Woollahra. You know, your opponents, James Paterson and Peter Dutton have said the Prime Minister, and you, needed to be more forceful, quicker in your response, that it shouldn't have taken 72 hours to declare it a terrorist attack. What do you say to some of that critique?

MINISTER TONY BURKE: Well, first of all, some of the claims that James Paterson has been quoted on in the paper are just wrong. I issued a statement on the Friday, on the Saturday, on the Sunday, on the Monday, I stood up with the Prime Minister, the head of ASIO and the Head of the Australian Federal Police. And on Tuesday, both the Prime Minister and myself, in separate visits, visited the synagogue. I know James Paterson, you know, he hasn't been a Shadow Minister for all that long. He's in the media a lot and he tends to judge everything by media engagement. That's, maybe that's a lack of experience, I'm not sure what that is.

But you know, the government is completely resolute on this. We are - we have no tolerance, no tolerance at all for any form of bigotry and for any form of antisemitism. The, what we had, what I witnessed yesterday in the ruins there of part of the synagogue was horrific, has absolutely no place in Australia. My counter-terrorism people have been engaged in dealing with the Victorian police on that and you know, I don't know how you can make a stronger statement than saying this does not belong in Australia at all. We hope we find the people responsible and we hope that the authorities throw the book at them. And separate to that, there is no louder message you can send as to just how contrary to Australian values those attacks are than to be there side by side with the community and say, this synagogue is going to be here to stay, it will be built back and it will be stronger than ever.

KIERAN GILBERT: Should the government have been more forceful in combating the use of hate symbols and other antisemitic displays at the regular pro-Palestinian protests?

MINISTER TONY BURKE: As you know, Kieran, we changed the law to make hate symbols unlawful. We changed the law to make the Nazi salute unlawful. We've changed the law to make sure that things that used to be tolerated back when we had a previous government that was trying to weaken our laws against hate speech, this government has been strengthening our laws that give police a stronger hand against antisemitism. Separate to that, we had legislation only go through last week through the Parliament that dealt with anti-doxxing, that dealt with the financing of terrorism.

I wish the Coalition had voted with us for those stronger laws that helped combat antisemitism. For reasons that only the Coalition can explain, they voted against those bills being made law in Australia. In addition to that, for the first time, Australia has a special envoy for antisemitism. I've been dealing directly with Jillian Segal. She is doing a first class job in working with the community and also coming to government with an independent lens and giving us advice on what she thinks needs to be done additionally. That's why, you know, we have seen widespread welcoming of the announcement of the task force. The task force that, as I said, I was standing up with the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General, the Head of the Australian police force and the Director-General of ASIO when that was announced.

KIERAN GILBERT: The Opposition Leader has also, and I'm going to these critiques methodically here because they've been, they've been regular and consistent, as you know they have been. But Peter Dutton has said that your government's approach to Israel is also abandoning Australia's Jewish community. What do you say to that? And also Alex Ryvchin from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. He says that the Foreign Minister was out of line in critiquing Israel in the same breath as she did China and Russia.

MINISTER TONY BURKE: The Foreign Minister made clear that every country should abide by International Law. And she gave references to other countries where people have been calling for International Law to be abided by and that's what the Foreign Minister said. And that's exactly true. Like, we don't have a position as a nation that International Law is a pick and choose thing. It's something that should be abided by every nation in the world. And, you know, even if you go to the, some of the community leaders who've been on Sky News, as I understand it today, you can have a view of different aspects of what the current government of Israel has done and express that view while still showing full support for the Australian Jewish community.

People are going to have different views on a conflict on the other side of the world, but there is no place for hatreds of the other side of the world being brought here in Australia, no place for that at all. People can have their views on the conflict, but there is no space and zero appetite for hatred to then be brought Australian against Australian. And the government's been resolute on that. We have changed the law to make the powers of the police stronger on that. And the statements from the Prime Minister, from myself, from the Attorney-General, from Josh Burns, as a local member of Parliament, have all been completely as one on that.

KIERAN GILBERT: One of the things that the Coalition has said as well is that the message has not been sharp enough in combating antisemitism over months. Things like the fact that the Coalition argues the government always has said antisemitism is unacceptable, as is Islamophobia. That it was always one alongside the other, when quite clearly at the moment, one is at a greater crisis and needs more attention than the other.

MINISTER TONY BURKE: Both of them had a spike following the atrocious attacks by Hamas on October 7th. Both of them had a spike and therefore there was a vote in the Parliament where the resolution dealt with both forms of bigotry. All forms of bigotry are unacceptable in Australia. Antisemitism is unacceptable and Islamophobia is unacceptable. Racism is unacceptable. Sexism is unacceptable. All forms of bigotry are unacceptable. There are two where we saw a spike in October of last year. And so the government, when it's been talking about challenges with social cohesion, has frequently spoken about both, because both matter.

In terms of responding to the attack on the synagogue that was clearly an antisemitic attack. And in the statements that you've heard from the government and from me, you deal with exactly the form of attack that is in front of you that was antisemitic. It was unacceptable. It has no place in Australia. And I hope they find who is responsible and throw the book at them.

KIERAN GILBERT: Yes, and finally, let's conclude, if we can, on this incident, the latest one in Woollahra. As someone who grew up in Sydney myself, as did you, it's not the city that we know that sort of behaviour. Are you worried about this space, this increase in the scourge of antisemitism that we're seeing right now?

MINISTER TONY BURKE: There are some thugs who belong behind bars and there is a connection between any rise in antisemitism and a rise in violence. We know that from history. And so we don't only speak out against the violence, we speak out against the bigotry as well. For the people engaged in the violence, I hope we find them and throw the book at them for anyone involved in hate symbols, anyone involved in feeding the poison that is antisemitism. We have laws now in place in Australia that allows the police to throw the book at them as well.

KIERAN GILBERT: Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke. I appreciate your time.

MINISTER TONY BURKE: Great to talk to you. Kieran.

ENDS