Additional Comments by Senator Paul Scarr

Introduction

1.1I support the recommendations made in the report of the committee, including that the Bill be passed when Parliament returns in 2025. The majority report deals comprehensively with the evidence received by the committee.

1.2The purpose of these additional comments is to provide further commentary in relation to some of the matters canvassed during the inquiry into the Bill. Afurther recommendation is made.

Expansion of offences to urging or threatening attacks against places of worship

1.3The recent terror attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne has shocked Australia and the world. It underlines the explosion of antisemitism in Australia since the horrific events of 7 October 2023.

1.4The attack has echoes of Kristallnacht—the Night of Broken Glass—which occurred in Nazi Germany on 9 and 10 November 1938. During the pogrom of 1938, over 1400 synagogues were torched and countless Jewish owned shops were plundered and destroyed. Some 91 Jews were murdered and 30 000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps.[1]

1.5The Sydney Jewish Museum tells the story of one survivor of Kristallnacht who found refuge in Australia:

Dr Max Joseph, arrested after Kristallnacht in Berlin and incarcerated in the concentration camp of Sachsenhausen, arrived in Sydney in 1939. After the outbreak of the war he was denounced by neighbours. In the internment camp of Tatura, in Victoria, he became a spokesperson for all those interned there. Released in 1941 Max founded the Association of Refugees. Heworked tirelessly for the rights and interests of Jewish and non-Jewish refugees and, after 1945, for Holocaust survivors. When in the early 1950s the progressive North Shore Temple Emanuel was established in Sydney, Max placed a small box containing several broken stones into the building’s foundation stone; these were remnants of his old synagogue in Berlin.

Max Joseph said:

I saw that synagogue burning on the 10th of November 1938. On that morning I was driving to an office to obtain a certain document which was necessary for emigration…Only the foundation walls were standing and on one side there was a somewhat higher heap of burning rubble…There was no noise, it was as if the large crowd was shocked in silence…And now I have here a few stones from that synagogue. Theyshould, I feel, go into the foundation stone of our new temple as a symbol of a new generation growing out of the old one.[2]

1.6Just as Dr Joseph saw his synagogue burning in Berlin in 1938, so too did the Jewish community in Melbourne see the Adass Israel Synagogue burning early in the morning of 6 December 2024. Dr Joseph passed away in 1971 so did not live to see a synagogue being firebombed in Melbourne, Australia.[3]

1.7Given events of the last week, there is a clear case to be made for expanding the offences to include the urging or threatening of attacks against places of worship.

1.8It is recommended that the offences be expanded to include the urging or threatening of attacks against places of worship.

Miscellaneous matters

1.9There are a number of miscellaneous matters which warrant further comment.

1.10First, a number of faith-based groups raised concerns that the ambit of the offences might be extended to capture alleged psychological harm arising from the teaching of religious tenets. The concern was that because ‘force or violence’ is not defined it might be extended to psychological harm. The issue is dealt with in paragraphs 2.16 to 2.24 of the majority report.

1.11After careful consideration, I do not consider that any amendment is required to address this concern. The clear and plain meaning of force or violence does not on the face of it encompass the expression of a religious teaching. Theresponse of the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) detailed in paragraph 2.24 confirmed this. AsMrJonathon Savery from the AGD advised the committee, the relevant phrase used in the provisions is: ‘force or violence’, as opposed to ‘harm’. Moreover, the Explanatory Memorandum makes it clear that the Bill is not intended to capture mere expressions of opinion or belief.[4]

1.12Having come to the above conclusion, I should add that it was extremely worthwhile for the issue to be ventilated during the committee process, and I extend my appreciation to the relevant faith-based groups for raising the issue.

1.13The second issue I note is the recommendation to establish a hate crimes database. I support this recommendation.As noted in the majority report, itwas a recommendation made in the Inquiry into right wing extremist movements in Australia undertaken by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee which I chair.

1.14Any such database should be developed in close liaison with law enforcement agencies (both federal, state and territory). Clear protocols should be established with respect to how a hate crime is categorised. Objectivity and consistency in reporting will be imperative if the database is to form a strong evidential basis for operational and policy decisions.

Conclusion

1.15I thank all stakeholders who made submissions to the inquiry. I also extend my thanks to the AGD which provided an extremely useful submission and answered the questions of the committee with a degree of rigour which provided confidence that great thought had gone into the drafting of the Bill.

Senator Paul Scarr

Deputy Chair

Footnotes

[1]Yad Vashem, ‘9–10 November 1938, The November Pogrom’, www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/kristallnacht/index.asp#section-overview (accessed 12December 2024).

[2]Sydney Jewish Museum, ‘Blog, Remembering Kristallnacht in Australia’, 9 November 2020, https://sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au/news/remembering-kristallnacht-in-australia/ (accessed 12December 2024).

[3]Australian Jewish Historical Society, ‘Collections, Joseph, Max, Personal Papers Archive, https://collections.ajhs.com.au/Detail/objects/923 (accessed on 12 December 2024).

[4]Explanatory Memorandum, p. 5.