Judicial inquiry into university antisemitism bill gets its second reading

Since the horrific Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October 2023, Shadow Minister for Education, Sarah Henderson, has led the charge in holding the Albanese government and universities to account for the dramatic increase in antisemitism at Australian universities.  

This week, in Parliament,  Senator Henderson called on the Senate to back her private senator’s bill to establish a judicial inquiry into antisemitism on university campuses.

With Labor indicating it will support a senate inquiry into the bill, Senator Henderson says there is now a landmark opportunity to hear directly from impacted Jewish students and academic staff as well as university vice-chancellors. 

There has been the second reading of the Senator’s bill to establish the inquiry:

She told the senate: “Everyone on a university campus has a right to be safe.This includes the University of Sydney which is today in crisis because of its serious, continuing failures to protect Jewish students and staff from antisemitic hate and incitement and discrimination.

As reported in today’s Australian – ‘Jewish groups turn on Sydney Uni’ – a coalition of Jewish organisations has united to say they have lost confidence in Australia’s oldest university to keep Jewish students safe.

In a joint statement, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Australasian Union of Jewish Students, the Zionist Federation of Australia, the Australian Academic Alliance against Anti-Semitism and the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council states they “stand ready to provide support to Jewish students and staff … who now wish to leave the university.”

Last Friday, the university recklessly agreed with its Muslim students society to disclose all research projects, partnerships and investments in defence and security-related industries. The society is demanding the university cut all ties with Israel.  The university has included a member of the society in a working group to review all such arrangements, raising expectations of full divestment.

In appeasing pro-Palestinian activists as a condition of removing their protest encampment, the University of Sydney’s vice-chancellor, Mark Scott, has capitulated to people linked to the radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, a proscribed terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom.

Such weakness by university leaders not only rewards antisemitic protest activity, but exposes many researchers and companies to the risk of being targeted by further campaigns of hate and incitement.

How can students and staff be safe on a university campus when vice-chancellors are bargaining with extremists?

To make matters worse, as has now been revealed, the vice-chancellor’s office was reportedly informed the encampment had been infiltrated by members of this extremist group in early May, but took no action to remove these people from university grounds until it was exposed in the media many weeks later.

Mr Scott’s decision to turn a blind eye to the activities of radical extremists on campus is a serious dereliction of duty.

Appallingly, the rationale for not acting, according to a university spokesman, was because Hizb ut-Tahrir is “not deemed a terrorist organisation by authorities” here in Australia.

The Jewish groups also say in their statement:

“Many of the protesters were from outside the university, yet they were allowed to menace the university community and disturb campus life without challenge.

“They have now been ­rewarded for doing so.”

The Jewish groups have rejected the University of Sydney’s offer to participate in the working group and have called on others not to partake in this “sham” and “fundamentally flawed process”.

I have called on the Albanese Government to urgently investigate all circumstances surrounding the presence on campus of Hizb ut-Tahrir and any other extremist group at the University of Sydney and to overturn this reckless agreement with activists, along with a similar agreement reached by the University of Melbourne.

The government must urgently act to restore the reputation of Australia’s oldest university which is supported by more than $1 billion of taxpayers’ money a year.

So far, we have heard nothing but silence from Labor’s Education Minister, Mr Clare.

In the face of this failure of leadership and moral clarity from Mr Clare, enough is enough.

There is now an even more compelling case for a judicial inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities.

The Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024 is a bill to do what it says – establish a Commission of Inquiry into the alarming rise in antisemitism on Australian universities.

This bill is drafted in the same terms as the private member’s bill introduced by Mr Leeser in the other place who, as a fine Jewish Australian, has been a warrior against the scourge of antisemitism.

Our bills reflect the Coalition’s determination to do whatever it takes to stamp out antisemitism, in all its ugly forms, on Australian university campuses, just as we are determined to stamp out antisemitism across our nation.

As Opposition Leader Mr Dutton said in his Budget Reply speech in the other place on 16 May:

“It will also take a Coalition Government to turn the tide of anti-Semitism afflicting our country. Anti-Semitism is not just a threat to one segment of our community. It’s a threat to our social cohesion and democratic values. Some of the most strident antisemitic standard-bearers have come from our university campuses. We will also provide the moral and political leadership which makes it abundantly clear that we expect the law to be enforced readily – not reluctantly – against those inciting hatred and violence.”

Regrettably, we have not seen that same commitment from the Albanese Government.

In the face of a more than 700 per cent increase in antisemitic incidents on Australian soil since last October, the Prime Minister has too often spoken from both sides of his mouth, frequently drawing a false equivalence between antisemitism and other forms of racism including Islamophobia.

But he did publicly rebuke his education minister after Mr Clare said that terrorist slogans such as “intifada” and calls for the annihilation of Israel – chants such as “from the river to the sea” – have different meanings to different people.

Mr Clare could not even directly condemn the encouragement of children to chant ‘intifada’ as happened at a ‘kid’s excursion’ to the University of Sydney.

Since 7 October, Australians have witnessed an unprecedented spike in antisemitic activity across our country – on our streets, at synagogues, in businesses and online – but arguably nothing has been quite as bad as on some university campuses.

Jewish students were already facing challenges.

Last year’s Australian Jewish University Experience Survey found that 64 per cent of Jewish students have experienced at least one incident of antisemitism during their time at university, with 88 per cent of those students experiencing antisemitism in the past 12 months.

Since 7 October 2023, things have got so much worse – the posters and chants and slogans of antisemitic hate and incitement such as ‘intifada’ and ‘river to the sea’; the endorsement of the horrific actions of Hamas by some academics and students; the classroom invasions where those who don’t support the activists’ cause were photographed and vilified like something from the 1930s; the protests and occupation of buildings which breach university rules against intimidation and harassment; the failure of university leaders to take disciplinary action against every person responsible for intimidation, hate speech, racial vilification, and discrimination; and the encampments of hate which have fuelled antisemitism and emboldened radical activists.

In the face of weak and unprincipled leadership from the Albanese Government against antisemitism on campus, the Coalition will not tolerate universities being a law unto themselves.

Over many months, we have consistently called on all universities to enforce their misconduct rules against intimidation, racial vilification and discrimination and combat the unprecedented levels of antisemitism on campus.

This includes shutting down unauthorised encampments and banning from campus any protestor who is not a university student or staff member.

I also called for new laws to fine universities which fail to uphold their codes of conduct and rules – and for “time and place” protests to limit the times and locations at which protests can be held.

We announced that a future Coalition Government will use provisions of the Migration Act to cancel the visas of any student protestors found to be involved in spreading anti-Semitism or supporting terrorism.

Under section 116 of the Act, the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Immigration have significant powers to cancel the visas of any person who is or may be a risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community or segment of the Australian community.

Section 501 of the Act gives the ministers the power to do so if visa holders show contempt or disregard for the law or human rights, including terrorist activities and political extremism, and for vilifying a segment of the Australian community or inciting discord in Australia.

There is no evidence the Minister for Home Affairs or Minister for Immigration have cancelled a single student visa under the significant powers available to them under the Migration Act.

This bill would establish a Commission of Inquiry to examine instances of antisemitic activity on campuses both before and after 7 October. It will consider whether the response of university leaders, regulators, representative organisations, and others has been adequate.

The Commission of Inquiry if established will examine a range of matters including:

• • whether universities accurately define and recognise the modern manifestations of antisemitism;
• • the extent to which universities have in place appropriate policy responses to prevent, reject, and deal with antisemitism;
• • university policies and their enforcement including complaints handling and disciplinary policies, security arrangements and university powers to expel people from campus for antisemitic activity; and
• • what steps universities are taking to ensure that lectures and tutorials do not include materials or teachings which are antisemitic.

In making recommendations, the Commissioner will consider among other things:

• • whether any institution-specific or sector wide policy changes are necessary to better combat antisemitism on Australian university campuses; and
• • any legislative or regulatory changes which may be needed to better protect Jewish students, academics, staff, and visitors from campus antisemitism; and to sanction universities which do not address antisemitism as well as those who engage in antisemitic conduct.

A Commission of Inquiry is in stark contrast to the government’s establishment of a racism study led by the Australian Human Rights Commission into various forms of racism on campus which is woefully inadequate.

This study has neither the independence, the powers, or the personnel to deal with these matters.

To make matters worse, the government’s pathetic attempt to ward off our proposal for a judicial inquiry means the Australian Human Rights Commission will not hand down its final report until 30 June next year – after the federal election – which reflects the government’s paltry commitment to combating antisemitism on university campuses.

I am inspired by Ben Sasse – the president of the University of Florida, who recently said in relation to pro-Palestinian protests –

We will always defend your rights to free speech and free assembly—but if you cross the line on clearly prohibited activities, you will be thrown off campus and suspended. … that means a three-year prohibition from campus. That’s serious. We said it. We meant it. We enforced it. We wish we didn’t have to, but the students weighed the costs, made their decisions, and will own the consequences as adults. We’re a university, not a daycare. We don’t coddle emotions; we wrestle with ideas.”

It is regrettable we have not seen the same leadership at some universities here in this country.

The University of Melbourne showed little resolve to act in the best interests of all students when it allowed pro-Palestinian activists – for days on end – to occupy the Arts building, wreaking chaos on campus.

As we heard in Senate estimates, the Australian National University continues to support its protest encampment, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the right to protest and academic freedom does not include the right to intimidate, racially vilify or incite hatred towards any group.

Some universities which were targeted by anti-Israel and anti-Jewish activists – notably the University of New South Wales, Monash University and Deakin University – have stepped up to enforce their codes of conduct and shut down their encampments – and I pay credit for those efforts.

I do also note ANU has expelled two students – one who endorsed the Hamas terrorist attack in a radio interview – and has referred four students to police.

But much more work needs to be done – which is why the passing of this bill is so important.

Enough is enough.  We must stop the antisemitic hate and incitement on university campuses.”