Coalition renews push for mandatory jail terms as Parliament condemns anti-Semitism

The Coalition is considering plans to introduce a private members bill to call for mandatory minimum sentencing for terrorism to boost the national fight against anti-Semitism.

The move comes as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Tuesday clashed with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over his Government’s response to an alarming nationwide surge of anti-Semitic crimes including the firebombing of synagogues and a childcare centre.

The Coalition, and leading members of the Jewish community, are ramping up pressure on Labor to take tougher action to combat anti-Semitism, accusing it of being too slow to act — accusations the Government vehemently denies.

Calls for unity in Parliament to wipe out the scourge of anti-Semitism were railroaded by emotionally charged rhetoric as the House and Senate’s opening sessions were dominated by heated debate over how to handle a crisis the security services believe has not yet plateaued.

Mr Albanese opened proceedings by denouncing anti-Semitism as having “no place in our nation”, pledging the Government would “combat it with the full force of our laws” and would not tolerate “cowards and criminals engaged in these low acts of hatred.”

In a direct message to Jewish Australians, he said: “We know that anti-Semitism has given dark shadows across generations. I say to Jewish Australians, they proudly stand tall. You belong here, and Australia stands with you.”

But a fired-up Mr Dutton hit back that Australia has never seen the level of “hatred and racism” it was experiencing now, and that the crisis should have been snuffed out sooner.

Holocaust survivors and their descendants “for the first time since 1945 say that they feel unsafe in this country,” he said.

“There are people otherwise, within the Jewish community that I’ve spoken to, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, now across the rest of the country, who are talking about leaving our country.

“People who were born here, who know little of Israel and little of that life, they’re talking about leaving our country and going to Israel because they feel safer in a country that’s under nuclear threat from Iran.”

Similar scenes played out in the Senate, where independent Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie gave an impassioned plea to lay aside political division as she tabled a motion deploring the “appalling and unacceptable rise” in anti-Semitism.

“This is about sharing the love with the Jewish community,” she said. “It’s about coming together on something so important, to let them know we are all standing together as one. That’s what today is about.”

In recent weeks, Mr Dutton has repeatedly called for minimum jail terms as a part of a “zero tolerance” strategy against anti-Semitism.

The Nightly understands if the Coalition tables a private members bill it would likely reflect a failed amendment by opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson to Ms Lambie’s motion.

This demanded the strengthening of the sentencing regime for terrorism with a mandatory minimum term of 6 years imprisonment for all acts of terrorism under Commonwealth law.

It also called for the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences of 12 months jail for the display of prohibited anti-Semitic and terrorist organisation symbols and related behaviour in public, and to increase the maximum penalty to 5 years prison.

A private bill, in what is likely to be the last parliamentary sitting before the Federal election, would never become law and was more likely to be motivated by political point-scoring, suggested a Labor source.

The Government has pointed to a suite of actions it has already taken to reassure Australian Jews, including the appointment of a special envoy, setting up Operation Avalite to investigate antisemitic attacks, and a $57m fund to improve security at Jewish schools and synagogues.

This week it is set to pass a bill to create new criminal offences and strengthen protection against hate crimes, as the latest step to prevent and punish anti-Semitism.

The hate crimes bill is expected to receive cross-party support but the vote may be pushed towards the end of the week to allow time for debate on amendments by independent MP Allegra Spender and the Coalition to strengthen it.

Ms Spender has proposed to expand the legislation to criminalise acts that promote hatred.

On Tuesday, she said the bill as it stood offered additional protection for the community but added: “I do believe that this is a moment to have this conversation about how much further should we go?”

Shadow foreign minister David Coleman has tabled amendments to include the urging or threatening of force, violence or damage to places of worship.

The Prime Minister has signalled he would not oppose this.

“I’ve been talking about the need to protect places of worship very clearly. I’ve made the government’s position on that very clear,” he said.