A couple killed in Sydney’s Bondi terrorist attack are being hailed as heroes for trying to stop one of the gunmen. You may have seen or heard the news late yesterday. Before anyone realized what was going on, Jewish Russian émigrés to Australia saw the car with ISIS flags in it, saw the men had guns, and tackled them directly. Incredible bravery and heroism by this couple. Tragically, they were shot by the two ISIS terrorists. They were among the 15 who died after the Islamic State terrorists fired on Jewish people at a festival. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said this earlier this morning.
Audio Grab (Anthony Albanese)
“I’ve spoken about the ideological problem. This was ISIS‑inspired extremist ideology leading to a terrorist act.”
Steve Austin
Let’s go to Queensland Senator and Shadow Coalition Spokesperson on Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Queensland Senator Paul Scarr. He’s in Sydney. He’s met with members of the Jewish community there. Senator Scarr, what have they told you?
Senator Scarr
Well Steve, they’ve told me many things. There’s obviously, in the Jewish community in Sydney and in fact across the whole of Australia, great grief. There’s also a lot of anger, anger that the calls they’ve been making since the explosion in antisemitism following those terrorist attacks on Israel on 7 October, the calls they’ve been making for greater efforts to stamp out antisemitism weren’t heeded, and so much grief over the loss of life at Bondi. The families that have been shattered, and there was much telling of stories of members of the Jewish community who have lost their lives, which just underlines the human tragedy of this event.
Steve Austin
What lessons do you, as the Shadow Spokesperson for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, think we need to learn from this event? There’s been some criticism of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for not using the “I word”, Islamism. He addressed the ideological problem, but there’s been criticism that he is continuing to soften calling out what is the core of the problem. What lessons do you think we need to learn?
Senator Scarr
We must be open and honest about this. This was an Islamic State‑inspired act of terror, the ultimate manifestation of antisemitism, and we must confront that. And we must reflect on the fact that members of our Jewish community, including in Queensland, have been raising the explosion in antisemitism for over two years now. The fact of the matter is that the Jewish community is the only community in this country where children, when they go to childcare or go to school, go past guards with machine guns. I spoke to members of the Jewish community at Bondi yesterday who are actively thinking about leaving Australia and going to Israel, and in fact, some of them told me some of their family members had already left Australia to go to Israel before this horrific event. So, there’s much deep reflection that is required by all of us, and I think that’s got to be one of the lessons coming out of the tragic events on Sunday.
Steve Austin
Has the federal government failed to heed the warnings about this? I ask because Dr Josh Roose, who is a terrorism expert at Deakin University, names Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke. Let me just play for you briefly what he says.
Audio Grab (Dr Josh Roose)
“When Australian Jewish leaders have raised, time and time again, the urgency of the threat and the dimensions and nature of the threat that they’re facing, and time and time again, including our Home Affairs Minister. those concerns have been fobbed off”
Steve Austin
Tony Burke is Australia’s Home Affairs Minister. Do you agree that he has fobbed off repeated expressed concerns over years by members of the Jewish community?
Senator Scarr
There has been an absolute failure to take the concerns of the Jewish community seriously enough. There is absolutely no doubt about that. The Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism delivered her plan, which had 49 recommendations, in mid‑July. We’re now nearly at Christmas, and many of those recommendations address the evil of antisemitism, which was the seed that led to the Islamic State‑inspired event in Sydney at Bondi on Sunday.
So, we must implement those 49 recommendations, and that includes in the immigration space, where I have portfolio responsibility.
Steve Austin
What questions do we need to ask of who we are allowing into the country? One of the shooters was not, apparently, a full citizen and was able to get a gun licence, allegedly. Do we need to ask more questions about this? I’m asking you as the Spokesperson on Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs.
Senator Scarr
Absolutely, and from the reports we’ve heard, one of the gunmen had multiple gun licenses, and these were high‑powered weapons. Questions must be asked.
Steve Austin
He wasn’t a citizen. Am I understanding this correctly? That he wasn’t even an Australian citizen.
Senator Scarr
Well, that’s my understanding as well, Steve. Questions must be asked as to how that situation came about. Those questions must be asked, and we saw the ramifications of the use of those guns on Sunday evening. Every temporary or provisional visa holder must give an undertaking to comply with Australian values, and that means obeying the law, and conducting themselves in accordance with those Australian values, which means respecting the rights and liberties of everyone else in this country. The Special Envoy said that we must have better processes to screen visa applicants for antisemitic views or affiliations, consistent with a risk‑based approach. We have got to ensure that the Migration Act and all the associated decision‑making and review processes effectively facilitate visa refusals, so we protect our borders from people coming into this country with antisemitic views. If people do come into the country and they’re on visas, then we’ve got to have processes where they can have their visas cancelled and be removed from the country as soon as possible. So, those are foundational principles contained in the plan delivered to the government in July, and those recommendations must be implemented.
Steve Austin
Have those anti‑Zionism marches that have taken place around Australia, including here in Brisbane, over the last few months simply been a cover for antisemitism, or partly a cover?
Senator Scarr
This notion of trying to draw a distinction between Zionism and antisemitism, in my view, is completely flawed. It’s completely flawed. I think what we’ve seen in the marches in Brisbane and elsewhere have been deeply disturbing over the last few years. Steve, I went out to the University of Queensland, my old university, when the encampments were taking place, and the Jewish community had set up an encampment called Camp Shalom, and we participated in a nighttime vigil. The signs held by the Jewish Community of Queensland simply said, “Keep us safe”. I reflect now on how we haven’t kept members of our Jewish community safe, and we’re reflecting on the tragedy we’ve seen at Bondi.
Steve Austin
Tony Abbott, Former Prime Minister from your side of politics, has written a book on Australia recently, and I interviewed him about that. He argued that we need to consider reconfiguring Australia’s policy of multiculturalism to being a multiracial and multi‑ethnic society but ensuring that we’re not bringing in ancient hatreds and old fights from overseas. Does Australia need to reconsider its policy settings on multiculturalism?
Senator Scarr
Well from my perspective, we shouldn’t be bringing ancient hatreds such as antisemitism into our country. Absolutely agree with that. But a foundation stone of multiculturalism, of social cohesion, of our Australian values, must be that wherever you come from, whatever your background, you must be committed to our Australian values. And first and foremost, among those is: obey the law and respect the rights and liberties of everyone in this country. That is freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the freedom of every person, the right of every person in our country to live safely and securely with themselves and their families. That’s got to be the foundation stone, a common commitment to those values. There is no place for antisemitism in our country. There is no place for these ancient hatreds, absolutely none. We’ve seen the consequences of those ancient hatreds, antisemitism, in Sydney on Sunday.
Steve Austin
Isn’t that really up to the people themselves, the citizens themselves, to not be antisemitic? The government can run advertisements all they want, but surely, it’s up to the people.
Senator Scarr
Absolutely, and we all have a part to play, there is absolutely no doubt about that. But the report talks about the need for education, to explain to people the meaning of antisemitism, to explain the consequences, to explain history, and to educate people about the evil of antisemitism. You know, we have a Holocaust Memorial Museum in Brisbane which talks about the evil of antisemitism and its consequences across Europe. It’s tragic that a Holocaust survivor, someone who lived through and survived the Holocaust, who found freedom and safety here in Australia, was shot down on Bondi Beach on Sunday night. It is just a tragedy.
Steve Austin
Senator Scarr, thanks for your time.
