The Australian parliament has united to condemn “all forms of hate speech” including antisemitism and Islamophobia, with the prime minister declaring that the country must not succumb to the “forces of division”.
As the death toll mounted in Israel and Gaza and concerns grew about spillover tensions in Australia, Anthony Albanese said Hamas should be unequivocally condemned for committing “mass murder on a horrific scale”.
The prime minister recognised Israel’s right to defend itself, but he also urged the Netanyahu government to “operate by the rules of war” amid increasing expectations of an imminent ground operation in Gaza.
A multi-pronged motion – which included a condemnation of all types of hate speech in Australia – passed the House of Representatives with 134 votes in favour and just four against.
The four Greens MPs voted against the motion because they had not succeeded in adding a line also condemning “war crimes perpetrated by the state of Israel” and seeking “an end to the state of Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories”.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, warned of a “looming humanitarian catastrophe” as the Israel Defence Forces ordered civilians to urgently leave the northern part of Gaza.
“This is now moving beyond self-defence into an invasion, and it is up to Australia as a peace-loving country to join the push to stop it,” Bandt said.
Albanese and MPs from across the political spectrum condemned antisemitic chants uttered by some pro-Palestine protesters outside the Sydney Opera House last week.
Tensions rose, however, when the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, repeated the words in his speech condemning them.
“They shouted with words that we should never hear in our country or anywhere else in the civilised world,” Dutton told parliament.
In response to an interjection, Dutton fired up. “I won’t stop saying it. I’ll take the interjection – I won’t stop saying it, because it should be condemned,” Dutton said.
Earlier, Albanese told parliament the antisemitic chants were “beyond offensive” and a “betrayal of our Australian values”.
“I know I speak for every member of these house when I say that this kind of hateful prejudice has no place in Australia,” the prime minister said.
Albanese said it was important for the parliament to come together to condemn the Hamas attacks, describing them as “an act of terror – calculated, pitiless brutality”.
He assured Jewish Australians: “You are not alone. Your fellow Australians stand with you.”
The prime minister said the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, home to 2 million people, was “deteriorating rapidly” and it was important to be clear “that it is Hamas that is the enemy, not the Palestinian people”.
Albanese said Hamas tried to sow division around the world – and people in Australia should “avoid the traps set by such forces of division”.
“We have no room for antisemitism in this nation, just as we have no room for Islamophobia. We have no room for hatred – not against Jews, not against Muslims. Our country has been made better by generations of both.”
Some MPs offered deeply personal stories as they reflected on the worsening situation.
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said the parliament was mourning “the greatest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust”.
“I am the son of a Holocaust survivor who, as a young boy, was forced to flee his home in 1939 and travel to the other side of the world. His life was at risk because – and only because – he is Jewish,” Dreyfus said.
“My father, and my grandparents, escaped.”
Dreyfus said the Nazis did not invent antisemitism “and, as the events of the last week have demonstrated all too tragically, antisemitism did not end when the Nazis were defeated”.
The industry minister, Ed Husic, spoke out against “hate-propelling violence”.
“I know the impact of hate and the way it tears apart societies; I’ve carried that since my 20s,” Husic said.
“Being conscious of humanity will be an important way in which we preserve what we value most in this country. It should be at the frontline of our fight against antisemitism and Islamophobia.”
The motion’s 16 points included recognition of Israel’s “inherent right to defend itself” and that Hamas did not represent the Palestinian people, nor their “legitimate needs and aspirations”.
It recognised the devastating loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives, and backed justice and freedom for both.
The motion also supported safe passage into Gaza for international humanitarian efforts.
