Investing $600,000 to ensure the safety of the Jewish community
Every Victorian should feel safe and free to express their religious beliefs. Antisemitism is on the rise, and we must ensure that we have the resources to protect our community.
David Southwick, Georgie Crozier, Justin Kagan and Matthew Guy
David Southwick and an elected Matt Guy Liberal Government will invest $600,000 to keep the Jewish community safe through funds to support CSG to expand and maintain their Control Room, CCTV capability and train volunteers with a focus on a new women’s empowerment program.
Community Security Group (CSG) are a team of Jewish volunteers. Just this year, CSG’s dedicated volunteers have spent over 5700 hours protecting Jewish venues, over 1400 hours protecting community functions, and over 2100 hours training.
Over the past couple of months, CSG has detected a spike in antisemitism online, targeting the Victorian Jewish Community. In Victoria, antisemitic graffiti has more than doubled from 2020 to 2021 and there has been an over 30 per cent increase in antisemitic incidents from 2020 to 2021.
CSG does provide valuable support to Victoria Police. Just this year, there have been over five instances where Police were able to rely on CSG’s CCTV network to apprehend offenders and keep our community safe.
Leader of the Liberal Party, Matt Guy, said it was disappointing the Jewish Community needs additional security funding and support but with the growing rise in anti-Semitism, the harsh reality is that it does.
“The Jewish Community is fortunate to have such a great organisation like CSG made up largely of volunteers that play such an important role in keeping the community safe.”
Member for Caulfield, David Southwick, said CSG has a proven track record of keeping our community safe and currently do not receive any government funding assistance but today that changes.
“We have already achieved success in legislating a ban on the Nazi Swastika and with hate on the rise this funding will assist with enforcement and support to keep our community safe.”
“The CSG volunteers play such a vital role for our community, they give up their weekends to keep the community safe and their work makes a genuine difference. This project is all about supporting their hard work.”
Justin Kagan, CEO of Community Security Group (CSG) welcomed the announcement of $600,000 from the Liberal Party to support their ongoing work.
“We have worked with David Southwick MP for a long time and have been able to show him the tremendous impact our work has on the continued safety and security of the community.”
“Post-pandemic, we have seen an escalation in antisemitic activity both on the streets of Melbourne and globally.”
“This investment will go a long way to keep the Victorian Jewish community safe and empowered to freely express their religious identity.”
