Call for a judicial enquiry
Senior members of the Coalition, including Peter Dutton and eleven cross-benchers, have sent a letter directly to the prime minister requesting a judicial inquiry into antisemitism in university campuses.
Pro-Palestine encampment at ANU Pic: Wikimedia Commons
The letter has been warmly welcomed by The Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
Co-CEO Peter Wertheim told J-Wire: “We wholeheartedly endorse the call for a judicial Inquiry into the surge in reports of antisemitic incidents on Australian campuses and of the failure of many university administrations to acknowledge, let alone address, the problem. We would strongly oppose any attempt to water down the scope of that Inquiry by taking its primary focus away from antisemitism. Whilst all racism is a problem, the explosion of antisemitism on campuses in Australia and overseas has no parallel or comparison.
I want to thank all of the MPs in the government, Coalition, Teals and Independents, with whom we have been working over the last three days to try to develop a consensus. A judicial Inquiry, as originally called for by Julian Leeser MP, would allow Jewish students and staff to give evidence in camera, without having to fear reprisals from the fanatical fringe of anti-Israel students, or victimisation from anti-Israel and antisemitic faculty members. There would be no opportunity for political grandstanding by any party, and the sole focus would be on getting to the truth.
We have no doubt from all the reports we and other Jewish organisations have been receiving that the truth will shock the Australian public. The integrity and the quality of our world-class universities is being undermined by a relentless infusion of anti-democratic, anti-liberal and anti-western values which are completely alien to our free, peaceful and tolerant way of life.”
The Zionist Federation of Australia hasalso supported the request and is urging the Government to back it.
ZFA Director of Public Affairs Bren Carlill said, “The situation on campus is unprecedented and deeply troubling. Jewish students are being targeted, are being intimidated, and are staying away from campus. The level of antisemitism on campus was already at intolerable levels before the Hamas-Israel war began, and has only worsened since.
Dr Carlill continued, “The Australian community has the right to know what our publicly-funded universities did when they became aware of this antisemitism and what processes – if any – they put in place to reduce it, both before 7 October and since.”
Dr Carlill added, “Any inquiry into the current intolerable situation must have the power to compel university administrators to appear and produce relevant documentation. Any review that doesn’t will ultimately fail to understand the situation or to have the means to provide the recommendations to fix it. We are agnostic as to what form this review takes – a Senate inquiry or a judicial inquiry – but what we do know is that the situation is urgent and serious, and it is well-passed time for action.”
