Middle East Southern Israel attack Nova festival
On 7 October 2023, in a day of horror, Hamas terrorists carried out barbaric attacks on the people of southern Israel. The grief and horror of that day lives on in families, in communities and in people I know. I've felt that grief and horror since that day.
Hundreds of festival goers were murdered at the Nova festival, near Re'im. In nearby communities, families were brutally attacked and butchered in their homes. More than 1,200 men, women and children were murdered. More than 250 people were taken hostage. This was the greatest loss of Jewish life in a single event since the Holocaust.
At Kibbutz Be'eri, where more than 130 people were killed, I met with Danny Majzner. He walked me through a once peaceful community that will never be the same. Danny survived, but his sister, Galit Carbone, an Australian grandmother, did not. She was murdered in her home. To walk those streets of Be'eri is to understand the weight of what was lost.
At the site of the Nova music festival, Shalev Biton guided me through the place where 340 people were murdered. Shalev had just returned from working in Australia before attending the festival. He escaped and was able to tell me his story of horror and survival.
Hearing these experiences directly reinforced that these were not acts of war, they were terrorist atrocities, and they must never be forgotten. It is shocking that, in Australia, the barbarity of October 7 has been followed by a rise of antisemitic violence and public abuse. I spoke at Caulfield Park in Melbourne on 13 October 2023, on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Australian government, in front of 6,000 of the Melbourne Jewish community. I stood with the Premier of Victoria, with representatives from the federal and state Liberal oppositions, and with Jewish community leaders—all of us united in our condemnation of the barbarity of the Hamas attacks.
This parliament has reaffirmed that Australia stands united against hate and antisemitism, but some have used these events to drive political division and incite anger here in Australia. That path does not lead to peace. We must confront antisemitism wherever it appears; in schools, on campuses and in workplaces. And this is not just a task for government or members of parliament. The responsibility to challenge hate and antisemitism belongs to every one of us. We must work together.
The Jewish community has every right to expect the crimes committed by Hamas to be condemned clearly, unequivocally and without justification of any kind. Our government has spoken out against Hamas and spoken out against antisemitism. We've also acted, and we'll continue to act. We've introduced the toughest laws in Australia's history to combat hate crimes, targeting serious forms of harmful hate speech. We've criminalised doxxing—the malicious release of personal information.
We've banned the Nazi salute and the public display of Nazi and terrorist organisation symbols in Australia. We legislated to expand the offences for praising terrorism and increased the penalty for doing so. We made the listing of Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organisations permanent. We criminalised the possession and dissemination of violent extremist material designed to incite violence and spread fear in the community. We've committed over $78 million to improve safety and security at Australian Jewish community sites. We wish this were not needed, but right now it is.
We appointed Jillian Segal as Australia's first Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism. We established the National Student Ombudsman to ensure complaints of antisemitism from students are addressed swiftly and decisively. We set up a parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism on university campuses, chaired by the member for Macnamara, Josh Burns, which produced a timely and comprehensive report. As Attorney-General, I asked state and territory attorneys-general to work together to establish a national hate crimes and incidents database.
I hope for peace, but it will not come easily. The Prime Minister has reminded us today that the world must never forget the atrocities that were inflicted by Hamas. He called on us to think of those still held hostage and to join with other countries to call for the hostages to be returned immediately. The Prime Minister is right. We must not forget. And we continue to hope for a just and lasting peace.
