Mark Dreyfus has been heckled while addressing an antisemitism conference, as the Liberal MP Michael Sukkar stood by his move last week to gag the attorney general from speaking on antisemitism in parliament.
On Thursday, Sky News Australia held an antisemitism summit at the Central Sydney synagogue. Speaker John Howard – appearing alongside others including the antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, the opposition leader, New South Wales premier and Israeli ambassador – was praised by the summit host, Sky’s Sharri Markson, as one of Australia’s “greatest” prime ministers.
Sarah Murdoch was in the audience. Dreyfus, Australia’s most senior Jewish politician, detailed the steps taken by the Albanese government to tackle antisemitism – and drew loud dissent.
“It is inexplicable that Hamas’s horrific terrorist attack has resulted in increased antisemitic behaviour around the world, including in Australia,” Dreyfus told the audience.
“Since the very first protest in Australia that crossed the line from legitimate political expression to expressions of antisemitic sentiment, the Australian government has expressly condemned words and acts of hate directed at Jewish people.”
The federal government has been criticised by members of the Jewish community, and by the opposition, for failing to effectively tackle the rise of antisemitism on Australian soil in the aftermath of the 7 October Hamas attacks.
Dreyfus’s words on Thursday sparked visible and audible reaction. On the broadcast of the session, at least two members of the audience were shown leaving the synagogue during the speech, while another man stood and turned his back to the podium.
The attorney general went on to discuss his January visit to Poland for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Birkenau death camp – where, in response to a question about Peter Dutton’s criticism of Penny Wong attending the same event, Dreyfus had condemned the politicising of antisemitism in Australia as “grotesque”.
“Remembering the Holocaust does not belong to the left or the right,” Dreyfus said on Thursday.
“It is the solemn duty of every person, of all of humanity, to remember the politics, to say never again.
“Last week, the opposition sought to silence me in parliament for repeating this plea. I can’t understand why, and some members of the opposition have contacted me to express regret. But I say it again, and I’ll keep saying it, further division will not help. It will do more harm.”
Sukkar stunned the lower house last Monday during question time when he moved that the attorney general no longer be heard in his response to a question about antisemitism.
The motion was defeated 91-52 before Anthony Albanese said he regarded Sukkar’s behaviour as “completely disorderly and completely unacceptable”.
In his Thursday speech, Dreyfus said: “Antisemitism cannot and must not be weaponised in the pursuit of votes. It must not be weaponised in the pursuit of newspaper sales or TV ratings, either, we all must take a stand together.”
Markson, who took the microphone next, said she hoped “that suggestion wasn’t that our newspapers or television stations are weaponising this, because we certainly are not. We are defending our values”. Her comments drew loud applause.
Earlier on Thursday, Dreyfus said on ABC radio “an extraordinary number of opposition politicians” had approached or contacted him to apologise after Sukkar’s parliamentary gag motion.
“I’m not going to make their lives difficult by identifying them, but they saw that what happened in parliament was a mistake,” he said.
Sukkar was not among them, he added, reiterating that he found the shadow minister for social services’ attempt to silence him on such a personal subject “extraordinary” and “wrong”.
“I think that everyone in the opposition realises it, even if not all of them have had the courage or the good grace to apologise,” Dreyfus said.
“We must never forget the Holocaust and I’ll keep saying that.”
He told Radio National the new hate speech laws, passed this month, were the strongest Australia had ever had, and would deal with acts based on Islamophobia “as much as” those based on antisemitism.
In response to Dreyfus’s radio comments, Sukkar told Guardian Australia later on Thursday that: “Dreyfus was accusing the opposition of politicising antisemitism, which is an outrageous smear.”
Doubling down on his contentious move, he said in a statement: “The Coalition will not put up with that kind of abuse in the parliament, particularly when it’s the Coalition that has shown Jewish Australians unwavering support since 7 October.
“He should retract that smear against the opposition and apologise for making such a terrible accusation.”
