December 9, 2024
SHARRI MARKSON: Welcome back. Well, since October 7th, Senator James Paterson has been outstanding and steadfast in calling out Labor's lack of moral clarity on anti-Semitism. The problem should have been nipped in the bud immediately after the Opera House protest some 14 months ago. Well, to discuss this and what should be done. I caught up with James Paterson earlier today. James Paterson, thank you so much for your time. We're standing here outside the Adass Synagogue. Many of us are asking, how did anti-Semitism in Australia get to this point?
JAMES PATERSON: I think the answer Sharri, is that the Prime Minister ignored the warnings. He ignored the Jewish community. He ignored the Opposition. He ignored so many people who've been crying out for 14 months that anti-Semitism is out of control in our country and that if something serious wasn't done, then something tragic would happen. And this is the tragic thing that has happened. It is a miracle that no one died but someone easily could have. And unfortunately, there's still a possibility this will get worse. As far as we know, the people behind this are still at large and there could be others in the community who are seeking to copy it. And that's why we needed a strong response from the beginning, a strong moral response, calling out anti-Semitism. And a strong operational response, enforcing the law. Making sure there are consequences for extremists and their behaviour. Otherwise they would become emboldened and they have been.
MARKSON: And that's why so many Australians, particularly in the Jewish community, are feeling so anxious at the moment. James, you and Peter Dutton have been so strong on the need to tackle anti-Semitism. Today you've come out and said precisely what measures you think need to be taken. Can you talk us through them?
PATERSON: Well, we've heard the Jewish community when they say the number one thing they want from governments is for the law to be enforced. And so we've announced that we will establish a new AFP led taskforce to tackle anti-Semitism. That will include Border Force and ASIO and other key intelligence and security agencies at the federal level and that we will direct them through a ministerial direction to prioritise anti-Semitism and particularly unresolved complaints. We also want them to look back on complaints that they've decided not to proceed with charges for, because we want to make sure there are consequences for the people who've done what they've done. We will also ensure that the Executive Council of Australian Jewry's request for $32.5 million of security funding will be delivered but critically without strings attached because the Albanese government has said they're not allowed to spend that money on armed guards at schools and shules, and only on unarmed guards.
MARKSON: That's outrageous.
PATERSON: Well that will lead to people downgrading security rather than upgrading security at a time of crisis. And finally, we will reform Section 501 of the Migration Act, the character provisions to make sure that we can cancel the visas and deport anyone who's involved in anti-Semitism or glorifying terrorism.
MARKSON: We've seen overnight scenes of Australians, including children on the streets, calling death to Jews somehow in response to the regime change in Syria. There's been so much of this hatred over the past year and you barely hear a word, let alone any action from law enforcement. What reaction should there be, do you think?
PATERSON: Well, I hope Sharri this is not yet another instance of incitement to violence against the Jewish community that goes unprosecuted, because we've had so many examples since the 7th of October of criminal incitement to violence at the federal and state level. And yet no charges have been laid, let alone anyone prosecuted or sent to prison over this. So we need a different response this time. We need our state and federal governments to lean in and to charge people with these offences, because if you don't charge them and if they aren't consequences, they become emboldened. And no wonder we've seen scenes like this, no wonder when people aren't being charged with terrorist organisation symbols when they're showing the flags of listed terrorist organisations, no wonder they don't fear the consequences.
MARKSON: Chris Bowen this morning has said that your remarks just calling for antisemitism to be dealt with. He's called them disgusting. What's your response to what Chris Bowen has had to say about you today?
PATERSON: Well, Chris Bowen should be ashamed of the lack of response from his government since the 7th of October to the anti-Semitism crisis. He needs to understand, like Tony Burke and the other ministers need to understand, that they are ministers in the Australian government for all Australians, they're not ministers for Western Sydney or just some of their constituents. They've got an obligation to protect all Australians and it is a disgrace that to this day, four days on, we've still not heard from Tony Burke. He hasn't done a press conference. He hasn't done a media interview. I mean, do we seriously think that if it was a mosque instead of a synagogue that had been firebombed, that anybody would stand between Tony Burke and a television camera and he would have been out there on day one? But we're now in day four and he's still missing in action.
MARKSON: And Chris Bowen again, couldn't speak about anti-Semitism today without also talking about Islamophobia. One form of racism is a crisis point in this country.
PATERSON: Correct. The evidence is very clear. Anti-Semitism is the most prolific form of hatred in our country. It is off the charts since the 7th of October. Of course, we should call out other forms of racism when they occur. But you don't need to call out Islamophobia when there's been an instance of anti-Semitism. The Jewish community is the only community whose experience of racism can't be called out in isolation, at least by our Prime Minister. He always has to balance that against other communities, and I think that is an abrogation of leadership and it's a moral failure.
MARKSON: Yeah, I feel like having Tony Burke as Home Affairs Minister is a bit like having the fox in charge of the hen house.
PATERSON: It was a bizarre decision for the Prime Minister to appoint Tony Burke to this portfolio. The only reason why he would have done so is that he's been putting Labor's political interests ahead of the national interest. They want to hold those seats in western Sydney. They're worried that the Muslim Votes Matter movement will rise up and take those seats off them at the election. And so they've put him in this position of power so he can approve Palestinian visas and do other things to appease extremists in our community. Instead of putting someone in that position who could act in the national interest and protect all Australians.
MARKSON: Yeah, which is so important right now. Just finally, I'd like to ask you all comment on the toppling of the Assad regime in Syria. Clearly, this is a good thing that this murderous regime is now over. Assad has reportedly fled to Russia, but we just don't know what comes next with these rebel forces and what the nature of that new government will be like.
PATERSON: You're right, Sharri. No one should mourn the collapse of the Assad regime. This is a regime that used chemical weapons on its own people, and it is never a bad day when a proxy of the Iranian state, when a proxy of the Russian state falls over. But we should be sober about what might replace it. We know among the disparate groups of rebels that have taken power, there are groups that have their origins in both ISIS and Al-Qaeda. HTS, one of the key groups is listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia and around the world. But they have made commitments about how they intend to govern Syria going forward and it's important that we hold them to those commitments. Because we have seen in other revolutions like this in the Middle East, particularly in Libya, that sometimes what replaces what had been before can be even worse. And it's critical that Syria does not become worse than it has already been during this terrible civil war.
MARKSON: James Paterson, thank you so much once again for your strength in fighting anti-Semitism. Really appreciate your time.
PATERSON: Thank you Sharri.
ENDS
