Back the plan and save Australia from hatred

There’s something rotten festering in modern Australia — and it’s not just online. It’s showing up on our streets, in our schools and on our university campuses. Our Jewish neighbours, colleagues and friends are facing harassment, threats and exclusion in ways this country hasn’t seen in decades.

That’s why the federal government’s new Plan to Combat Antisemitism, released by Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, couldn’t come at a better time.

This isn’t a theoretical debate about offence or hurt feelings. The statistics are jaw-dropping: antisemitic incidents have jumped more than 300 per cent in the past year. Add to this the fire-bombings of synagogues, threats to Jewish schools, and vandalism and slurs directed at ordinary citizens.

Now wonder our top spy chief, Mike Burgess, a few months ago ranked antisemitism as Australia’s number one “threat to life.” We need to let that sink in. For a country that prides itself on mateship, fairness and giving everyone a ‘fair go’, this is a national disgrace and a far cry from the country we should be. What’s worse is that much of this hatred has been allowed to fester under the banner of free speech, academic freedom, social justice or online activism.

But let’s be clear: chanting genocidal slogans outside the Opera House, doxing Jewish students, or firebombing a childcare centre are not acts of ‘resistance’. They’re crimes and needed to be treated as such.

The new plan proposes what Australians should have demanded long ago: consistency, clarity and consequences. It urges all levels of government to adopt a working definition of antisemitism so institutions can no longer pretend they don’t know it when they see it.

It pushes for tougher hate crime laws, better police training and a national database to track incidents. And it puts failing universities on notice. Either they clean up the culture or they will face consequences, including the loss of taxpayer funding.

Critics will cry censorship. Some already are. But freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from responsibility. If you’re using your taxpayer-funded platform to promote hate or exclude Australians based on their religion, expect to be held accountable.

Importantly, the Plan doesn’t just look to government. It calls on businesses, schools, artists and media outlets to play their part. In particular, it shines a spotlight on the publicly-funded arts sector, where a small but vocal minority have treated Jewish Australians as if they are unworthy of cultural inclusion. That has to stop. And if it doesn’t, the Plan rightly recommends defunding institutions that peddle prejudice on the public purse.

We need to restore the moral clarity that once defined our national character. Appeasing bigotry in the name of political fashion is not neutrality, but complicity. And if civic institutions won’t defend inclusion and dignity for all, they become part of the problem. Australia’s pluralism rests on mutual respect and not selective solidarity.

Some of the strongest parts of the Plan tackle digital hate. Social media can be a sewer of conspiracies and incitement, often amplified by anonymous trolls and foreign bots. So the Plan calls for greater transparency of algorithms and a commitment on the part of platform hosts to address antisemitic content swiftly and effectively.

Of course, the challenge with attempting to regulate the online world is keeping up with rapid developments in technology. But if we don’t demand accountability from the platforms, we are dooming our children and young people to be raised on a diet of lies and hate dressed up as social justice. That’s not the Australia we want. That’s not the Australia we should accept.

“Antisemitism attacks the foundation of our nation; the fairness, equality and respect we have for one another,” warns Jillian Segal in her foreword to the Plan.

The Plan is bold, practical and grounded in common sense. And it emphasises respect for our democratic values. But like any plan, it’s only as strong as the will to implement it. That’s why leadership matters now more than ever. We need premiers, vice-chancellors, CEOs and community leaders to state publicly and loudly that antisemitism has no place in this country.

And we, the public, need to back them; because antisemitism is not just a Jewish issue. It is an Australian issue that confronts every member of our society.   When hatred is normalised against one group, it opens the door to hatred against others. It eats away at the very fabric of who we are.

Australia must draw a line. The Special Envoy’s Plan to combat antisemitism is the first serious step. Let’s take that step together.

Peter Kurti is Director of the Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society program at the Centre for Independent Studies leads The New Intolerance, the CIS’s new research program into antisemitism and religious hatred.