Don’t ditch anti-Semitism fight for gun reform, PM told
Jewish groups are calling on the prime minister, who is embarking on major reforms to Australia’s decades-old gun laws, not to forget the “open wound” of antisemitism.
State and territory governments are considering tightening gun licenses and banning non-citizens from owning firearms in response to the Bondi Beach massacre, the country’s worst mass killing in nearly 30 years.
Executive Council of Australian Jews boss Daniel Aghion said political leaders should not forget the cultural changes needed to combat hatred against Jews.
“You are talking about the difference between cause and action,” he told AAP.
“The gun makes the action easier, but it does not give the reason for the attack.
“The reason here is hatred of Jews. That’s the open wound that this country has to deal with.”
Former prime minister John Howard, who overhauled Australia’s gun laws after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, said he would support a modest tightening of landmark reforms.
But he also warned Anthony Albanese against using firearms reform as a “diversion” from tackling antisemitism.
Mr Albanese said his government was doing its best to combat hatred against Jews, but antisemitism had been around for a long time.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley accused the government of not doing enough on this issue.
“We cannot afford an approach by the government that treats anti-Semitism as a problem to be managed, rather than an evil to be eliminated,” he told ABC News.
Ms. Ley created an internal working group to develop policies on counter-terrorism, radicalization and anti-Semitism.
The group of shadow ministers will meet with the government’s special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, on Wednesday and plan to meet with other Jewish leaders.
Two Liberal supporters told AAP they were not told about the taskforce before details of the policy were distributed to the media.
Conservatives in the party are using the massacre to reopen a debate on immigration, as one of the Bondi attackers was born abroad.
A senior Liberal source said Ms Ley had planned to unveil the key tenets of her immigration policy before Christmas, but those plans had been “frozen” because of the attack.
Ms. Segal submitted her report on anti-Semitism to the government in July, but many of the recommendations remain unaddressed.
He said he was preparing a new policy document following the Bondi attacks.
“I hope they follow up on this and deal with some of these difficult questions about where you draw the line,” Ms Segal told Sky News.
