Dutton seeks national cabinet meeting over Jewish safety
The federal opposition is calling for a national cabinet meeting to be convened to discuss community safety and cohesion amid a rise in antisemitism.
Ambassador Amir Maimon and Peter Dutton
A series of protests have been held across the country since Hamas, which is a declared terrorist organisation in Australia, attacked Israel on October 7.
Security agencies have raised concerns about the potential for protest action to turn into something more sinister.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he had written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese proposing a meeting with premiers and chief ministers.
“We don’t believe that our national interest is served when you’ve got a prime minister who should be showing strength of leadership but is, in fact, showing a very weak leadership model,” Mr Dutton told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
“I’ve written to the prime minister … to convene a national cabinet to speak to the premiers and to the chief ministers about what the joined-up response should be.
Because I fear that there will be a significant act within our country which will cause harm to people in the Jewish community, or the community more broadly, at a time when temperatures are rising.”
In his letter, Mr Dutton raised the issue of pro-Palestinian protests in Melbourne and Sydney.
“Jewish Australians are expressing fears about their personal safety,” he wrote.
“Many are scared to display religious symbols or wear religious garments and many Jewish Australians are so concerned for the safety of their children they are refusing to allow them to wear school uniforms which identify them as pupils of Jewish schools.”
Peter Dutton added: “You’ve also got a Government that has created a very difficult situation here in Australia where we see a rise of the anti-Semitism – as we’re seeing in other parts of developed countries – and we don’t believe that our national interest is served when you’ve got a Prime Minister who should be showing strength of leadership and he’s in fact showing a very weak leadership model because he’s got a divided Party Room, a divided Caucus, in relation to the Israel issue – and that is giving rise to all sorts of community concerns and angst at the moment within the Jewish community that is unacceptable.
I’ve written to the Prime Minister and we’ll release that letter shortly, which calls on the Prime Minister to convene a National Cabinet to speak to the Premiers and to the Chief Ministers about what the joined up response should be, because I fear that there will be a significant act within our country that will cause harm to people in the Jewish community, or in the community more broadly at a time when temperatures are rising and the Prime Minister should be showing strong leadership to lower those temperatures, and he’s completely failed that test.”
By Paul Osborne in Canberra/AAP
It’s true that there’s a divide throughout the Labor party regarding Israel. Whether or not Peter Dutton is making use of the situation with politics in mind, there is definitely a problem that can be seen readily of Labor MPs not being cohesive with policy in regard to Israel and this has shown itself in the last weeks with Ed Husic, Ann Aly, Tony Burke, Penny Wong, et al.
If Anthony Albanese is not more pro-active in diffusing it, it may well at end topple the Labor Party itself in the next election,