Victoria to get new laws to fight antisemitism

In the wake of the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue last week, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced a suite of measures to fight antisemitism in the state.

The Victorian Government will:

“Antisemitism thrives in extreme and radical environments, and we are giving police more powers to control protest and making it harder for agents of violence and hate to hide," Allan said.

She said Victorians had witnessed extreme, dangerous and radical conduct in numerous public demonstrations over the last year, environments which enabled hate and antisemitism to thrive.

The new measures aim to balance the right to protest against the right of people to live safely – free of danger, discrimination and harassment.

“This isn’t about the Middle East. This is about Victoria. This is about our values and the right of anyone in this state to live, work and pray freely without fear of intimidation, fear and violence,” Allan said.

JCCV CEO Naomi Levin cautiously welcomed the Government's move on protests. "The protest reforms are a good starting point but willneed to be closely monitored in the implementation to ensure they have the desired effect," she said.

The JCCV also wants the government to introduce protest pemits to give police the ability to move demonstrations out of areas where they are likely to cause disruption.

President of Zionism Victoria Elyse Schachna thanked the Allan government for listening and acting on the community's concern about anti-Israel protest. “Victorians have had enough of their city being overtaken by often hostile and aggressive protestors."

Keep social cohesion pledge or lose funding

The Government has also promised to introduce new policies to build social cohesion in the state.

Chief among these is a ‘social cohesion pledge’ that multicultural organisations must observe to apply for government grants – with consequences if the pledge is broken.

The JCCV welcomed the social cohesion pledge, saying multicultural gorups that promote division or hate should be delegitimised.

The Government will also set up a new social cohesion advisory group, led by the former Chair of the Victorian Multicultural Commission George Lekakis, and will work to restart multifaith dialogue, which collapsed after Muslim groups refused to condemn the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Even the state's landmark interfaith schools program Building Bridges, which has run for 20 years, was forced to close.

Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ingrid Stitt said Victoria had pioneered multifaith dialogue and the Government had a responsibility to lead the multicultural communities to come together again.

“We have a role in guiding and funding multicultural and multifaith community organisations. That means we have the obligation to set the standard: everyone can be champions of cohesion and must be equipped to do so.”

Allan also pledged that the Victorian Government would work with Adass Israel to ensure they had a temporary space for services and faced as few hurdles as possible in rebuilding their synagogue.