Where’s the money? Government and Israel lobby coy on big grants

Australia’s Jewish community received 49 times more funding per capita for security than Muslim Australians – but where does the money go? Stephanie Tran investigates.

Where is the money? The latest $176 million government grant to the top Zionist and Israel lobby group the Executive Council of Australian Jews? It was reserved for ‘community safety’, but what is community safety? Questions were directed to Internal Affairs and ECAJ.

Internal Affairs did not address specific questions. ECAJ did not respond.

“Are there any funds received under the Program to Improve the Security of Jewish Communities?” Used directly or indirectly to support ECAJ’s lobbying, advocacy, legal, media activities or public communication activities? If so, please provide details.”

Questions and answers are published below. The question of public interest is whether government grant money was spent by the Israel lobby or its partners to prosecute Australian citizens such as Mary Kostakidis, Nick Reimer and John Keane in antisemitism cases.

An uncertain partner

One MWM investigation has previously announced that the Executive Council of Australian Jews has been awarded over $176 million in Commonwealth security grants (ECAJ) was paid to an unspecified association included in the ACT, rather than to the regulator ACNC or an ASIC-registered charity.

Another $22 million guarantee grant was given to ECAJ.”committed but not yet awarded” total guarantee grants given by the government to ECAJ increased to $198 million.

The regulation has raised questions about transparency because ACT-formed associations are not required to make their audited financial statements publicly available, unlike registered charities that must report to the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC).

Money trail leads to obscure Israel lobby presence, then runs out

The issue came to the fore during: Senate EstimatesGreens senator David Shoebridge questioned why the Home Office chose to award the funding to ECAJ’s ACT incorporated society rather than one of the charities.

“In terms of society gaining transparency about where the funding is going, there is much less transparency provided by ACT incorporated societies, which are not required to submit audited financial statements and are not regulated by the ACNC registered charity.

“Why did Home Office give this to an ACT registered charity rather than an ACNC registered charity?” Shoebridge asked.

A secret government response

Department official Amy Dyde responded that the incorporated association was the appropriate recipient because “this is the corporate entity that represents the ECAJ as its peak body, and therefore that is the entity that is eligible for funding.”

“This is not philanthropic funding; it’s not tax-deductible funding; it’s operational security funding. So they were the appropriate entity to receive this funding to distribute as the peak body,” Dyde said.

But publicly available grant records show $27.5 Million Security Increase For the Muslim Communities program This award was awarded to the Australian National Imams Council Limited, an ACNC registered charity which publicly discloses government grant income in its annual financial reports.

In contrast, ECAJ’s ACNC-registered charity, The Trustee for ECAJ Harm Prevention Fund, reported in its ACNC filings that it had not received any government grant income in the last decade, despite more than $176 million in Commonwealth security funding awarded to ECAJ.

Financing inequality

Since October 2023, Muslim community organizations have received support through the Security Enhancements for Muslim Communities program.

According to the 2021 census, 813,392 Australians identify as Muslim. According to Commonwealth security funding figures of $27.5 million, funding equates to approximately $33.80 per person.

By comparison, the total of Commonwealth grants given to Jewish community organizations since October 2023 is around $198 million for a group that makes up a small fraction of the number of Muslims in Australia.

The 2021 Census recorded 99,956 Australians who identified Judaism as their religion. However, ECAJ co-chair Peter Wertheim estimated Australia’s Jewish population to be closer to 120,000, accounting for those who did not indicate their religion in the census.

Wertheim estimates that funding allocated to Jewish community organizations amounts to about $1,650 per person. On a per capita basis, this is

Approximately 49 times more security funds than allocated to Muslim community organizations.

Inequality was raised by Shoebridge during Senate Estimates; Shoebridge noted that Muslim, Palestinian and Arab communities have also reported threats, harassment and attacks on community facilities since October 7.

“Of course, the Jewish community is not the only community facing pretty significant threats, knowing that the threats and security issues in that community are real,” Shoebridge said.

“I speak regularly to members of the Muslim community, the Palestinian community and the broader Arab community, and they experience attacks on mosques, open hostility on the street and attacks on community gatherings.

“They asked where the funding was for their own security.”

Shoebridge questioned whether the Home Office had undertaken a wider assessment to ensure security funding was distributed proportionately among communities facing increasing threats.

Department secretary Stephanie Foster said the Home Office was engaging with communities across Australia and said requests from Jewish organizations were predominantly focused on security measures, while requests from Muslim communities were “more broad-based”.

“We engage very consistently with community groups to understand their needs and priorities,” Foster said.

“The focus of the Jewish community and Jewish community groups has been heavily focused on specific security-related funds for some time. The demands, particularly from the Muslim community, have been more broad-reaching.”

Funding inequality reveals during a report sharp increase According to Islamophobia Register Australia, reports of Islamophobia increased by 636% in the period after October 7, 2023, with the organization reporting an average of 18 incidents per week.

Financing on demand

Greens senator David Shoebridge repeatedly questioned Home Office officials about how the government arrived at the $124 million figure announced in the federal budget.

“What was the assessment of the figure?” Shoebridge asked. “Or is the answer ‘This is what was wanted’?”

Department official Andrew Warnes said: “This is correct. This is what was requested and determined by the Executive Council of Australian Jews as being required for security funding.”

This exchange prompted further inquiries from Shoebridge, asking whether any independent needs assessment, infrastructure review or analysis had been conducted to justify the amount.

Ministry officials did not disclose their identities

any special considerations that make up the funding figure.

Instead, Warnes said ECAJ requested $102 million in funding after previous funding arrangements expired.

In response to questions asked by MWM, tThe Home Office told us there was “no additional information to provide beyond the statements made during the estimates”.

The Department also did not provide a copy of the grant guidance as requested.

We have asked detailed questions to the Home Office and ECAJ about whether any grant funding could be used for lobbying, advocacy, legal or public communications activities.

They declined to comment.

Executive. The lobby that bought Australian democracy

Stephanie is a journalist with a background in both law and journalism. He worked at The Guardian and as a paralegal, where he assisted Crikey’s defense team in the high-profile libel case brought by Lachlan Murdoch. His reporting has been recognized nationally, earning him the 2021 Guardians of Democracy Award for Student Investigative Reporting and a nomination for the 2021 Walkley Student Journalist of the Year Award.