Coalition Members Additional Comments

1.1Coalition members consider the evidence overwhelming that there has been an alarming and abhorrent rise in antisemitism amongst students and staff at Australian universities.

1.2Ancient hatreds like antisemitism should have no place in Australia.

1.3In the last century, nearly 40,000 Australians sacrificed their lives to bring an end to the evils of Nazism. A generation earlier, over 109,000 Australians served proudly under Sir John Monash, a Jew considered by my Coalition members - and many others - as our greatest Australian.

1.4 Antisemitism is inherently un-Australian. It is anathema to Australian values.

1.5Coalition members hold deep concern, based on the balance of evidence presented to the committee inquiry, that Australian universities have become incubators of antisemitic thought in our country.

1.6Coalition members concur with the government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Ms Jillian Segal AO, that ‘there is systemic, embedded antisemitism within our university campuses’.

1.7While many vice-chancellors presented to the committee that their institutions are merely subject to broader societal pressures and are a ‘microcosm’ of broader Australian society, Coalition members consider that the evidence demonstrates that Australian universities have instead become sanctuaries of antisemitic thought.

1.8Coalition members have been particularly alarmed at the numerous examples of university academics who have espoused antisemitic tropes, the inability of university leaders to appropriately deal with the spread of such rhetoric, the impact of this antisemitism on Jewish students, and the broader failure to uphold a safe and respectful learning environment.

1.9Coalition members consider that the rise in antisemitism on campuses has been exacerbated by the reluctance of many university administrations to enforce meaningful and just consequences for misconduct.

1.10The hesitation of certain universities to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism highlights a concerning lack of moral clarity among academic leaders. This definition, endorsed by the Australian Government, should be universally accepted and uncontroversial.

1.11The committee’s inquiry has demonstrated the limits of a parliamentary inquiry into such an important topic.Despite the best efforts of members to get to the truth and secure answers to our questions, our hearings were a masterclass in obfuscation from university leaders.

1.12Coalition members maintain that a properly constituted full-time judicial inquiry, led by a respected and eminent jurist, is the only way to ensure the necessary powers, confidentiality, and expertise required to forensically examine and address the crisis.

1.13Coalition members support the call of Ms Jillian Segal AO, and representatives of every major Jewish organisation across the nation, who strongly support the establishment of an independent judicial inquiry.

1.14Coalition members disagree with the position of the majority of committee members that the government should wait even further to see if Australian universities take appropriate action before establishing a judicial inquiry.

1.15After extended inaction, despite escalating instances of antisemitic violence across our cities, Jewish Australians deserve immediate and concrete measures from this Federal Government rather than continued delays that allow antisemitism to continue to fester within our universities.

1.16That the government establish an independent judicial inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities immediately.

1.17That the Australian Government amends the law so that all public universities are required to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.

1.18That Australian universities review and amend their hiring policies and policies relating to employee conduct to prevent and address antisemitic behaviour among academic staff.