E&OE.
Greg, thank you very much. They’re very warm words of welcome and I’m very pleased and very honoured to be here in your presence today.
I don’t tend to give a long speech, but there are a few important points that I wanted to make.
Firstly, can I say thank you to our survivors and to the volunteers here at the museum. People who convey their stories and provide an opportunity for young minds to hear a balanced version of history and an understanding of the past tragedies and what we can learn from those in the modern age.
It seems, for many, that has been lost and so the work of the museum becomes even more important.
So to Lucy, and to Jack, and Egon, I want to say thank you very much for your leadership in the community, for your inspiration to generations, to your decency, to your honesty, and to the way in which, like many, many, many people within the Jewish community in Australia in this day, you’ve been able to show the bravery and to stand up for what is right and to argue against that which is evil and is wrong.
I really feel very humbled to be here today.
I’m incredibly proud to be here with my colleagues who have provided a stoicism and a clarity in their own thinking, the way in which they’ve expressed that publicly. It’s been important for me, but for many of their supporters and friends and followers as well.
Starting, of course, with Julian Leeser, who’s a dear friend and known to many of you, who has had his own stories to tell of discrimination, of racism, of vilification, the hatred that now becomes a common occurrence online, particularly for somebody with a public profile.
Julian, I want to acknowledge you publicly for the stance that you’ve taken, but more importantly, the grace that you’ve demonstrated and the articulation of your bravery and the conveyance of that message to many of those people online, a tolerance that they could never comprehend, but which stands you in good stead. So, Julian, it’s wonderful to be here with you today.
Now, many of you will have – he’s a public name of course now, but James Paterson – he’s Victorian, so you don’t hold that against him here in New South Wales. But James Paterson is, again, a dear friend and colleague and many of you will have seen his speeches, contributions, media interviews and his support for the Jewish community and the state of Israel has been with equal conviction that we’ve seen in Julian as well.
So, James, I wanted to acknowledge the work that you have done and thank you so much for being here. Thank you very much for your leadership, which has really provided a great balance to many of us. You’re a superhero, I think, so welcome mate.
That of course brings me to my good friend Ro Knox as well, who’s here today and has provided, again, I think, somebody who has an incredible background when you consider professionally what she’s achieved and what she’s walked away from to put her hand up to be a part of the Liberal Party and to be part of the public debate.
Again, she’s copped a lot of criticism, but her clarity, her moral clarity and the way in which she has stood with her community here in Wentworth is quite remarkable. So, Ro, thank you very much for what you’ve done and for being here today.
I would like to say thank you, a special thank you, to Greg and to Kevin, to everybody who has made me feel so welcome this morning.
It is an opportunity for me to be here to get a better understanding of the way in which the museum is already playing an active role in the formation of young minds and the teaching of history and understanding of the Holocaust and what happened on October 7.
But more importantly, even today than ever, a continuation of that message, coupled with a better understanding for all Australians of the contribution of people of Jewish heritage and the way in which they have contributed through the arts, through business, through philanthropic support, but ultimately to the betterment of our society and our country.
It’s something perhaps we’ve taken for granted, and perhaps when we rattle off the names and the achievements and the contributions through peace and war, that we thought it didn’t need to be repeated.
But of course it does.
I’m here today to formally commit to you that if the Coalition Government is formed at the time of the next election, we will commit the $8.5 million dollars to see the Centre of Jewish Life and Tolerance become a reality.
That will augment the work that takes place here in the museum to convey that message of contribution to Australia over successive generations, but more importantly, such an integral part of our success into the future as well.
There’s a second element to the announcement that I make to you today as well.
I want to work closely – I have my differences on different issues with the Prime Minister – but this is one where there is bipartisan support, I’m sure.
I hope that our announcement, which is fairly early in the electoral cycle, if you like, but I hope that it allows the Government to see an opportunity to match the funding so that regardless of the outcome at the next federal election, there is a commitment to this project becoming a reality.
The young lives who will come through the doors here, young Australians from non-Jewish backgrounds, Jewish backgrounds, whatever religion, whatever belief, or none at all, they will walk away from this place, from this historic, monumental place with a different perspective, a more informed perspective, and one that will allow them to join the fight against antisemitism, which we must all commit and recommit ourselves to today.
There is a huge opportunity for us in this country, a sliding doors moment I think, to stare down the antisemitism.
I see some of the leaders, so-called, on university campuses have come to a decision point that they’re not going to allow antisemitism on their campuses into the future.
This wasn’t clear to them during the months of protest and the vilification of students and of lecturers and completely unacceptable.
I’ve said before, and I really feel this profoundly, I look much older, but I’m 54 this year, and in my lifetime, this is the most horrific period that I can recall in Australia.
It’s the most shocking and jolting period and it’s so, so undeserved.
We need to make sure that it provides us with the resolve to make sure that better days are ahead, that children can feel safe, that armed guards are no longer required at places of worship, at synagogues or at supermarkets or at schools or preschools.
That is not our country.
All of you here today demonstrate a resolve to make sure that that can be the case.
So, I’m incredibly proud to be here with you today and very proud to make, formally, this commitment to the Jewish community and to the education of generations of young Australians.
Thank you very much for the work that you do already within the community.
Many of you are involved in many philanthropic causes, obviously within Jewish causes, but well and truly beyond that and you’re wonderful contributors to the Australian way of life, an integral part to our success and our fabric, and may that always, forever be the case.
Thank you very much.
[ends]