January 29, 2025
Shadow minister for home affairs James Paterson has called for a "different approach from law enforcement" at both state and federal level in combatting hate speech in Australia.
NSW Police and Victoria Police have been working to stem a growing number of antisemitic attacks in recent months, with Sky News Australia's Sharri Markson investigating for herself how both organisations had been handling the crisis.
After previously criticising NSW Police's response, in particular to the pro-Palestine protests that occurred outside the Sydney Opera House in 2023, Mr Paterson had praise for how they were now working to shut down acts of antisemitism, but said it was in stark contrast to Victoria Police's work.
"I give New South Wales Police credit for some things. It is clear that they are now starting to put significant resources behind Operation Pearl. It's clear that they are now starting to make some arrests and it is clear that they now realise that their initial response after the Sydney Opera House and other incidents was inadequate," he said.
"And frankly, I'll give them some credit for that because when I put similar questions to the Federal Police that you put to New South Wales police, they were unwilling to concede any errors at all, let alone Victoria Police, who have dismally failed in achieving any arrests."
Markson voiced her concern about the fact Victoria Police had not arrested anyone for hate speech, warning that the Holocaust "started with racism" and the "exclusion of Jews".
Mr Paterson assessed there "very clearly needs to be a different approach from law enforcement at the state and federal level" in order to protect Australia's Jewish community, but added politicians were key in order to help police fulfil their roles
"The burden less rests not with police who do the best they can within the laws that they have. The burden less rests with political leaders. It is up to us to make our laws appropriate to capture this conduct, and it is up to us to make our expectations clear to police about what should and should not be a priority and where resources should be put," he said.
"And it is very clear, particularly at the federal level, but also at the state level, that political leadership has been totally absent from the last 15 months and from our Prime Minister.
"Weakness and equivocation has been the order of the day rather than strength and moral clarity. And that is why we're in the mess that we're in today."
NSW Police's Operation Pearl has so far charged nine people after being established in December 2024 to investigate hate crimes in the state.
Detectives have acted swiftly in investigating hate crimes, with the nine people arrested across four separate attacks - in Bondi in October, Woollahra in November and again in December, and Newtown in January.
