MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Mr DREYFUS (Isaacs) (15:23): On 7 October 2023, in a day of horror, Hamas terrorists carried out coordinated, barbaric attacks on the people of southern Israel. The grief and the horror of that day live on in families, in communities and in people I know. I have felt that grief and horror since that day.
Hundreds of festival-goers were murdered at the Nova festival near Re'im. In nearby communities, including Kfar Aza, Be'eri, Nir Oz, Nahal Oz, Holit, Zikim, Kerem Shalom and Sufa, people, families, were brutally attacked and butchered in their homes. More than 1,200 men, women and children were slaughtered; more than 250 people were taken hostage.
These were deliberate attacks on civilians. These were atrocities against civilians. This was the greatest loss of Jewish life in a single event since the Holocaust.
That day left more than physical devastation. It imposed a grief that will not pass quickly and a trauma that will cross generations. For Israeli survivors, for the families of those murdered and for those still waiting for loved ones to return, the legacy of 7 October is enduring.
Its violence and cruelty left a mark not only on individuals but on a people. I spoke at Caulfield Park in Melbourne days after the 7 October 2023 attack, on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Australian government, in front of 6,000 people from the Melbourne Jewish community. I stood with the Premier of Victoria and with representatives from the federal and state Liberal oppositions.
I stood with Jewish community leaders and with a resident of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, who was visiting Melbourne when her kibbutz was attacked. All of us were united in our condemnation of the barbarity of the Hamas attacks. In January this year I was in Israel when a ceasefire was agreed.
After 15 months of war and after what began with those horrific atrocities, there was finally a glimmer of hope. What I saw and heard in that week in Israel will stay with me. At Kibbutz Be'eri, where more than 130 people were murdered, I met with Danny Majzner, who is in our parliament today—he was here during question time.
Danny walked me through a community that will never be the same. Danny survived that day; his sister, Galit Carbone—an Australian grandmother—did not. She was murdered in her home.
Danny generously shared his family's story with me. To walk those streets and to see homes that were once full of life torn apart is to understand the weight of what was lost on October 7. 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 by running for kilometres and was saved by the selfless actions of a nearby farm manager. His story is one of horror and also of survival.
These experiences—standing where such brutality occurred, hearing directly from those who lived through it—reinforced what I not just already knew but felt. These were not acts of war; they were terrorist atrocities and they must never be forgotten. It is shocking that in Australia, after the barbarity of October 7, we have seen a rise in antisemitism, including antisemitic violence and public abuse.
This has challenged our shared commitment to safety, mutual respect and the rule of law. Regardless of circumstance, Australia is defined by the expectation that all people should be able to live free from fear. I'm always saddened when events overseas leave any Australians feeling less secure and asking serious questions about their place in this country.
Some have used these events to drive political division and have exploited international events to incite anger and division in Australia. That path does not lead to peace and does not reflect who we should be. We must ensure that our response to international conflicts strengthens rather than undermines our community.
No-one in Australia should feel unsafe because of their background or beliefs, and political disagreements, however vigorous, must never compromise the principles that underpin democratic values or public safety. It's through the discipline of law, of restraint and of equal regard that democracy is defended and national unity is maintained. There have been moments over the past year, brief and fragile, when ceasefires were reached.
In those moments there was relief and even joy, not only in Israel and Gaza but across the region and beyond. Those ceasefires offered a glimpse of what might be possible, something that ends the killing and allows diplomacy, humanitarian aid and recovery to take its place. But let there be no doubt; the attacks carried out by Hamas on 7 October 2023 were acts of terrorism—deliberate, calculated, extremist and inhumane.
What I've witnessed on our streets in Australia over the last two years has been distressing. The hate, the vitriol and the antisemitism that have festered are utterly unacceptable. Every Australian has the right to protest, but no-one has the right to protest wherever they please at the expense of the safety and freedom of others.
We must restore the balance between freedom of expression and freedom of movement, ensuring that the right to protest never becomes the right to intimidate and inflame tensions in our community. The very few limits placed on protest activity have paradoxically placed limits on the Jewish community's ability to move and live freely. Families have been afraid to walk in their own neighbourhoods.
Jewish schools have cancelled excursions and counselled their students not to wear identifying uniforms. Synagogues and schools have required armed security and police protection. In 2025 in Australia, no religious institution should need such a protection.
All Australians, including our Jewish citizens, must be able to live publicly, proudly and safely in the country they call home. The Jewish community in Australia deserves our full and unequivocal support. Jews in Australia should not have to doubt whether their fellow Australians stand with them against hate.
I believe there remains, at heart, strong support for the Jewish community within this parliament, across government and across Australia. But belief alone is not enough. We must act.
We must ensure our laws, our public spaces and our public discourse reflect the values of safety, decency and inclusion for all. This parliament can and does reaffirm that Australia stands against hate and stands for unity. We must confront antisemitism wherever it appears—in schools, on campuses, in workplaces and in our political institutions.
And it's not just a task for government or for members of parliament. The responsibility to challenge hate belongs to every one of us. Silence is not neutrality; it is complicity.
The events of 7 October 2023 were horrific in their intent and brutality, but the events of October 7 are also a test. They are a test of our humanity, our principles and our courage to speak truth when it's most difficult to do so. Let us honour the victims of that day not only through remembrance but through resolve.
Let us ensure that hate finds no home in Australia, not in our streets, not in our institutions and not in our hearts. May the values that define us as Australians—freedom, safety and respect for all—guide not just our words but our actions too. The Jewish community has every right to expect that the crimes committed by Hamas will be condemned clearly, unequivocally and without justification of any kind.
I hope for peace, but it will not come easily. It rarely does. Peace is not simply declared; it's built through law, through diplomacy and through the discipline and resolve to continue even when progress is slow or opposed.
The Prime Minister reminded us at the start of question time 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 our partners around the world in calling for the hostages to be returned immediately and with dignity. The Prime Minister is right.
We must not forget. We remember those hostages who did not survive, and we continue to call for those still held to come home. The future must be grounded in security for Israel and dignity for Palestinians, and we continue to hope for a just and lasting peace.
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