1
00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:08,039
Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.

2
00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:15,800
Speaker 1: It's Thursday, February five, twenty twenty six. Australia's most powerful

3
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:21,320
Speaker 1: union figure, ACTU Secretary Sally McManus says unions will unashamedly

4
00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:26,439
Speaker 1: campaign for above inflation pay rises. In an exclusive interview

5
00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,600
Speaker 1: with The Australians Ewan Hannon, McManus says the issue for

6
00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,599
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six is wages, wages, wages. This is the

7
00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,519
Speaker 1: only way in the short term to address the pressures

8
00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:43,159
Speaker 1: that people are under. A passionate young woman with strong

9
00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:48,720
Speaker 1: views about Palestine, Lauren Lancaster is unknown outside student politics,

10
00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,080
Speaker 1: but the former University of Sydney Student Representative Council president

11
00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:57,160
Speaker 1: who's condemned Israel for ethnic cleansing is the daughter of

12
00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:01,960
Speaker 1: Richard Lancaster, SC the senior county assisting the Royal Commission

13
00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:15,479
Speaker 1: into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. That's today's story. The Royal

14
00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,480
Speaker 1: Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has had a troubled

15
00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,880
Speaker 1: start to life. First of all, Anthony Albanezi didn't want

16
00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,559
Speaker 1: to do it at all. Then his choice of Commissioner

17
00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,720
Speaker 1: was hotly debated. By members of the Jewish community who

18
00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,640
Speaker 1: wanted to make sure that the Commissioner didn't bring a

19
00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:36,200
Speaker 1: pre existing view to this very hotly debated issue. Now

20
00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:40,039
Speaker 1: the Royal Commission's beginning its work and Commissioner Virginia Bell

21
00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,760
Speaker 1: has appointed one of Australia's most eminent barristers, Richard Lancaster,

22
00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,200
Speaker 1: SC to be her counsel assisting the Australians. James Dowling

23
00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:52,680
Speaker 1: is breaking a story today about Richard Lancaster and I'm

24
00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,280
Speaker 1: joined by the Australians Elie Dudley to discuss it. Ellie,

25
00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,480
Speaker 1: Richard Lancaster is a seriously impressive barrister, isn't he?

26
00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,120
Speaker 2: Asolutely Richard Lancaster is a very celebrated barrister. He has

27
00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,640
Speaker 2: a long list of accolades, He's got a wealth of

28
00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,480
Speaker 2: experience and he's acted for the Jewish community in the past.

29
00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:12,520
Speaker 2: He's acted for them in the New South Wales Supreme

30
00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,320
Speaker 2: Court when proving that a trust was a charitable trust

31
00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,119
Speaker 2: at one point when executing the will of philanthropist Millie Phillips.

32
00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,359
Speaker 2: So he's got a lot of history, he is well

33
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,320
Speaker 2: experienced and he was a solid pick to be Counsel

34
00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:26,679
Speaker 2: Assistant in this Royal Commission.

35
00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,239
Speaker 1: He also has a family and just like in the media,

36
00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,600
Speaker 1: there are many legal couples. He's married to Sally Dowling

37
00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,639
Speaker 1: sc who is the new South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions,

38
00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:41,480
Speaker 1: and their daughter is Lauren Lancaster. Now that's not a

39
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,120
Speaker 1: name many of our audience would be familiar with, but

40
00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:48,320
Speaker 1: she's a University of Sydney student politician, very active young

41
00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,400
Speaker 1: woman on campus and over the past couple of years

42
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,559
Speaker 1: she's been particularly vocal about the issue of Israel and Palestine.

43
00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:56,960
Speaker 1: Tell me about Lauren Lancaster.

44
00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:59,799
Speaker 2: So, Lauren Lancaster was the president of the University of

45
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,440
Speaker 2: the SRC from twenty twenty one to twenty twenty two.

46
00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,840
Speaker 2: She described herself as a pro Palestine activist and she

47
00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,560
Speaker 2: a motion that was passed by the University SRC when

48
00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,880
Speaker 2: she was president. Drew criticism from Jewish groups and also

49
00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:18,600
Speaker 2: from Vice Chancellor Mark Scott.

50
00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:23,520
Speaker 1: The vice Chancellor has conceded he could have done more

51
00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:25,760
Speaker 1: to make Jewish students feel safer.

52
00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:29,600
Speaker 3: I failed them in the university has failed them. The

53
00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:35,000
Speaker 3: testimonials are heartbreaking and unacceptable and for that I am sorry.

54
00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:40,040
Speaker 3: No one should feel at risk, unsafe or unwelcome at

55
00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:41,400
Speaker 3: any place of learning.

56
00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:46,360
Speaker 2: Now, that was a motion put forward to criticize Israel's militarist,

57
00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,040
Speaker 2: apartized and ethnic cleansing. And this was a motion that

58
00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:52,480
Speaker 2: she seconded, So it wasn't just something that was passed

59
00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:54,080
Speaker 2: by the sc when she was in charge, but she

60
00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,600
Speaker 2: also seconded the motion herself. At the time, Mark Scott

61
00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,040
Speaker 2: said the motion does not represent the position of the

62
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,960
Speaker 2: university and also said that the university was acting to

63
00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,160
Speaker 2: stamp out anti Semitism on campus in April and September

64
00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,320
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two. She also detailed her work with pro

65
00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,880
Speaker 2: Palestine causes on campus. She said, this month, I've been

66
00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,279
Speaker 2: involved with a lot of Palestine activism, including the rally

67
00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:19,719
Speaker 2: in support of Gaza when Israel was bombing the region

68
00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:22,880
Speaker 2: leaving forty nine dead. So this is a woman who

69
00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,719
Speaker 2: has been the president of the university sc well on

70
00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,840
Speaker 2: lots of different issues, you know, environments, social justice, but

71
00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:34,200
Speaker 2: pro Palestine activism was something that was definitely in her repertoire.

72
00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:43,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's very common feature of university life these days

73
00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,040
Speaker 1: that the issue of Israel and Palestine is hotly debated.

74
00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:50,520
Speaker 2: This GUS divers.

75
00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,719
Speaker 1: There have been encampments at various universities. There've been marches,

76
00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:59,360
Speaker 1: and there's been a constant stream of Jewish students saying

77
00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,200
Speaker 1: that the they don't feel like campus is safe, is

78
00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:06,400
Speaker 1: somewhere where they can be fully Jewish and express themselves publicly.

79
00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:10,760
Speaker 1: Now there's no suggestion, of course, that Lauren Lancaster has

80
00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,200
Speaker 1: done anything wrong. She's just been a vibrant young woman

81
00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:15,640
Speaker 1: with a strong opinion, hasn't.

82
00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:19,600
Speaker 2: She Absolutely, and there's nothing to say that she's been

83
00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,279
Speaker 2: involved in some of those really big actions that we've

84
00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:26,720
Speaker 2: seen on campus post October seven, twenty twenty three. As

85
00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:28,880
Speaker 2: I mentioned, she was president from twenty twenty one to

86
00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,480
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two. There's no evidence that she attended the encampment,

87
00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,159
Speaker 2: for example, that was outside the University of Sydney quadrangle.

88
00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:40,279
Speaker 2: We know last year there was an incident where members

89
00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:44,120
Speaker 2: of the university SISE turned their backs on Jewish students

90
00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:46,080
Speaker 2: in the middle of a meeting Jewish students who were

91
00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,240
Speaker 2: explaining how they felt unsafe on campus and they felt

92
00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,920
Speaker 2: like anti Semitism was raging rampant. So there's no evidence

93
00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:55,880
Speaker 2: to say that she was involved in those things. But

94
00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,520
Speaker 2: it's examples like that and examples that we've seen at

95
00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,320
Speaker 2: the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, where we've

96
00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,520
Speaker 2: seen incidents of anti Semitism on campus that are going

97
00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,120
Speaker 2: to form a massive part of this Royal Commission. And

98
00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:11,719
Speaker 2: that's where the story that we're publishing today.

99
00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:16,720
Speaker 1: Lies coming up the new judge who's at the center

100
00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:34,719
Speaker 1: of a huge controversy of his own. The law is

101
00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,360
Speaker 1: of course full of people who are part of society

102
00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,080
Speaker 1: and have strong opinions. In New South Wales, there's a

103
00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:44,479
Speaker 1: raging controversy about a newly appointed Supreme Court judge. This

104
00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:48,320
Speaker 1: is Philip Bolton sc again, a very highly respected barrister.

105
00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,239
Speaker 1: Arthur Moses, one of the country's preeminent barristers, has said

106
00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,280
Speaker 1: that Philip Bolton is without peer as an excellent practitioner

107
00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:00,960
Speaker 1: of the law. But the Jewish community is unhw because

108
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,479
Speaker 1: before being appointed to the bench, Philip Bolton expressed a

109
00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,120
Speaker 1: lot of very frank views about Israel and Palestine on

110
00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:08,080
Speaker 1: social media, didn't he?

111
00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:11,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, he did about Israel, about Palestine, about the anti

112
00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:14,080
Speaker 2: Semitism mon boy as well, Gillian Siegel. He was highly

113
00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:17,400
Speaker 2: critical of her when The Australian revealed some of these

114
00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,239
Speaker 2: comments that had been made on social media. Michael Daily,

115
00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,440
Speaker 2: the new Southwal's Attorney General, launched a snap review of

116
00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,120
Speaker 2: the appointment and in the end to go ahead with it,

117
00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,920
Speaker 2: and Philip Bolton was sworn into the bench just this week.

118
00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,040
Speaker 2: But it was in that review and in an interview

119
00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:34,040
Speaker 2: that Michael Daily did with us that he mentioned that

120
00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:37,960
Speaker 2: Philip Bolton would mostly handle criminal matters. The new Soufthwales

121
00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:40,640
Speaker 2: Supreme Court we know, particularly over the past few years,

122
00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,840
Speaker 2: has been handed a bunch of cases with pro Palestinian

123
00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,040
Speaker 2: activists trying to march. So for example, the pro Palestine

124
00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,240
Speaker 2: rally over the Harbor Bridge, that was something that was

125
00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,560
Speaker 2: subject to a Supreme Court challenge. So I can't imagine

126
00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,920
Speaker 2: that we'll see Philip Bolton handling cases like this, but

127
00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,600
Speaker 2: it is interesting, you know, barristers and judges, they've all

128
00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,600
Speaker 2: got their their own opinions and their own views on things.

129
00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,200
Speaker 2: Ensuring that they are kept out of the work that

130
00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,880
Speaker 2: they're doing is incredibly important, particularly when it comes to

131
00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:10,840
Speaker 2: issues like this that are so heated.

132
00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,320
Speaker 1: It seems slightly emblematic of this protest movement to me

133
00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:18,320
Speaker 1: that this leading light of the Uni protest movement Laura

134
00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,920
Speaker 1: Lancaster is the daughter of two high flying lawyers. There's

135
00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:26,680
Speaker 1: a cohort of highly educated, passionate Dare I say privileged

136
00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,800
Speaker 1: young people who have taken this calls on particularly as

137
00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:30,640
Speaker 1: their own, haven't they?

138
00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. She has campaigned hard, She has a tended protests.

139
00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,240
Speaker 2: She would say that she is seeking out justice and

140
00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:39,360
Speaker 2: that's what she's doing and probably what she's going to

141
00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:41,240
Speaker 2: do when she carries on through with her law degree.

142
00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:43,240
Speaker 1: Ellie Dudley, thank you very.

143
00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:44,000
Speaker 2: Much, my pleasure.

144
00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,520
Speaker 1: Ellie Dudley is a journalist with The Australian. You can

145
00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:52,880
Speaker 1: read this story, plus all our coverage of the Royal

146
00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,640
Speaker 1: Commission and anti Semitism right now at the Australian dot

147
00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:03,880
Speaker 1: com dot au