WEBVTT - The national response to increased antisemitism 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:05.120 Already and this is the Daily This is the Daily OS. 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:16.000 Oh now it makes sense. Good morning and welcome to 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:18.600 the Daily OS. It's Thursday, the twenty third of January. 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:20.360 I'm Billy, I'm emma. 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:23.840 There have been several anti Semitic attacks in Sydney in 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:27.080 the past three months, which has led to governments and police, 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:30.080 as well as leaders of other faiths uniting to condemn, 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:35.080 investigate and press charges against those responsible. This week, Prime 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:39.160 Minister Anthony Albanesi announced a national database to track antismitic 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:42.800 crime following a meeting with the National Cabinet. At the 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:45.519 same time, the Australian Federal Police has announced it is 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:50.880 investigating if overseas actors or individuals have paid local criminals 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:53.400 in Australia to carry out some of these crimes in 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.080 our suburbs. Well tell you what you need to know 0:00:56.200 --> 0:01:01.440 in today's podcast, Billy. 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:04.759 Like you said, there have been several anti Semitic attacks 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:08.800 in Sydney, even in Melbourne in recent months. We've seen 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:13.080 a real increase in these kinds of hate crimes. It's 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.280 moved into a national conversation now which we're going to 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:20.360 unpack today. But what's the latest on these attacks? There 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.000 was more this week. What can you tell us? 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:26.440 Yeah, So on Tuesday, just before one am so overnight, 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:32.160 emergency services were called to a childcare center in Marubra. Now, 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:35.320 for those who are not familiar, Marubra is a suburb 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.559 in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney, which is where many 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:42.080 of these anti Semitic attacks have taken place, and the 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:44.959 Eastern suburbs is also where a lot of Sydney's Jewish 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:49.320 population live. Now, the childcare center was near a synagogue 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:53.080 and it was lit on fire, and the center's walls 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:57.040 also had anti Semitic graffiti spray painted on and police 0:01:57.080 --> 0:01:58.840 has said that of course you know, there was a fire, 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:01.960 there was extensive down image to the building, and that 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:04.720 childcare center remains closed today. 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:07.360 And that childcare center, I think it's important to add, 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.400 is a non denominational center. It's not. It was not 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:14.680 a Jewish childcare center. It was not a particular religious center. 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:18.760 It just happened to be located next to a synagogue exactly. 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:22.920 And an investigation into who is responsible for that attack 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:27.160 is now underway by New South Wales police. After this 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.680 happened in the morning of Tuesday, New South Wales Premier 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.520 Chris Mins held a press conference saying these antisemitic attacks 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:37.120 are the opposite of the kind of country that we 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.840 all want to live in. And he was standing next 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:43.040 to Prime Minister Anthony Alberzi during that press conference, who 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:46.480 also added, this is a place for children and families 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:49.400 and it should never have been denigrated by this despicable 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:53.360 and horrifying crime. And like we've mentioned, Emma, this was 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:55.960 the latest in a string of attacks. This was not 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.239 an isolated incident. There have been eight similar attacks on 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:02.240 buildings and in Sydney in the past three months. 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:06.239 You've mentioned there is this ongoing investigation by police into 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:10.720 that attack on the daycare center. Where are police up 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.280 to overall with these string of offenses. 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:17.840 Yeah, so there are multiple different they call them operations 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.440 or strike forces that have been set up both at 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:22.960 the New South Wales Police Force level and then also 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.760 at the Australian Federal police level. I'll go through New 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.120 South Wales Police first. So they have set up strike 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:32.880 Force per last December to investigate these anti Smitic attacks. 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:37.440 Since then, nine people have been charged, and that includes 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:41.320 one person who was charged yesterday for allegedly setting fire 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.560 to a synagogue in Newtown, which is also a suburban Sydney, 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.720 and that happened earlier this month. Now, that person appeared 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:52.080 in court yesterday and was denied bail. And then at 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:56.120 the federal police level, the AFP, they also set up 0:03:56.160 --> 0:04:00.680 an operation in December to investigate anti semitism, and since 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.560 that operation was established, there have been one hundred and 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:07.920 sixty six reports of anti semitism, with fifteen under investigation 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.040 and one person arrested. 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:14.040 We did hear from New South Walest Premier Chris Mins 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:18.000 this week. He had very strong language in his condemnation 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:21.320 of this daycare attack and he gave us a bit 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:25.080 of an update on those charges and investigations as you mentioned, 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.880 and several of the people arrested across the board have 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:31.880 been refused bail, and he seems to be wanting to 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:35.960 make it very clear that investigators are taking this very seriously. 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:40.000 Yeah, police and government officials have both said multiple times 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:43.159 that the perpetrators of these crimes will face the full 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:45.440 force of the law. That is a phrase that we 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:49.160 have heard a lot when talking about these crimes. And 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:51.440 like I mentioned before, this is certainly not an issue 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:53.720 that is just isolated to New South Wales. Even there 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:57.080 have also been arrests in Victoria, but certainly most of 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:00.160 the recent attacks have been in Sydney. 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:03.919 And so this kind of all culminated in this announcement 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:08.680 on Tuesday that there would be a snap national Cabinet meeting. 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:14.240 National Cabinet was convened. What do we know about that meeting? 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:15.039 What came from it? 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:18.800 Yeah, for anyone not familiar with National Cabinet, it is 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:21.520 a meeting of all of the state and territory leaders. 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:25.160 The name is kind of confusing because it is separate 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:28.120 to the government's cabinet, which is all of the federal 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:32.880 government's most senior ministers. So there's that government cabinet, and 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.160 then completely separate to that, there is this National Cabinet 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:39.080 with the leaders of the state territory governments and also 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:41.840 the Prime Minister. And this is when the Prime Minister 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:44.480 and of course the leaders of the states and territories 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:48.719 get together to discuss a matter of significant concern to 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:51.919 the nation. And it was actually first organized in the 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:55.600 early days of the COVID pandemic, and it's been called 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:59.320 kind of periodically ever since whenever there is a nationwide 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:01.920 issue that leaders want to address together. 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:04.679 I can remember one of the more recent national Cabinet 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:08.240 meetings being about addressing the domestic violence crisis in the 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:10.960 country as an example of what kind of the threshold 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:12.760 is for national cabinet to be assembled. 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:15.120 Yeah, exactly. And I always find it surprising that they 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:18.200 didn't have this prior to the pandemic. Yeah, it feels 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:21.320 like a really necessary thing for them to have. But 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.159 back to this, So on Tuesday, the Prime Minister called 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:26.680 this meeting and what came from that is the announcement 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.920 that there will be a new national database to better 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:34.719 inform and coordinate responses to anti Semitic incidents. Now, this 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:37.359 is on top of a number of previous announcements the 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:40.679 federal government has made over the past few months, mostly 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:46.400 around increased funding for police and security around Jewish institutions. Now, 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:49.080 in terms of this announcement on Tuesday, there wasn't really 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.520 that much detail provided beyond the fact that there will 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.840 be this new database. But my understanding is that it 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:59.359 will be similar to how last year the government announced 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.680 a National Day Database for domestic violence, which was also 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.560 done to bring together all of the data of each 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:09.640 individual state and territory in one place, and the idea 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:13.240 is that that database can then help inform new policies 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:16.320 and it can also help law enforcement develop the most 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.920 effective measures to combat the issue. So there is kind 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:24.240 of precedence around having this one national database for a 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:25.520 significant issue, and. 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:29.560 It can be confusing and often trends missed when police 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:32.960 at a state level are dealing with their own investigations 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:35.160 and it's not until we kind of zoom out nationally 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:37.960 that you can start to connect the dots. So at 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.520 the same time as national Cabinet canven to come to 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:45.880 announce this database, the AFP also announced and that's the 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:49.320 Australian Federal Police. It also announced that it was looking 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:53.920 into whether overseas actors could be involved in these attacks. 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:56.000 And I think this is a really interesting part of 0:07:56.040 --> 0:08:00.400 the story and perhaps a headline. We weren't expecting, Billy, 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:03.000 what are we talking about when we say overseas actors? 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.920 So we don't know too much detail. I would say 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.960 that they did keep their cards quite close to their chest, 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:13.880 but basically what they said is they're investigating whether individuals 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:18.720 or potentially groups are coordinating these attacks and potentially paying 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:23.440 people in Australia to carry out these antismitic attacks. 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:28.640 So groups or individuals overseas potentially coordinating with people here 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:31.760 on the ground in Australia. So they're investigating the idea 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:34.760 that these attacks might not just be within the Australian community, 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.439 but there's something more sinister internationally at. 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:40.560 Play exactly, And they said that one line of inquiry 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:44.760 they're looking at is if young people are being intentionally 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:49.760 radicalized online by these potential overseas actors and then being 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:54.320 encouraged to commit anti Semitic attacks. They're also looking into 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:58.480 how possible payment could have been made, including if cryptocurrency 0:08:58.760 --> 0:08:59.640 has been used. 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.960 It's so interesting because of course we're talking more and 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:07.240 hearing more and more about online extremism radicalization, but I 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:10.000 think sometimes that feels like a really far away concept. 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:13.800 So to hear in real time how a national investigation 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:18.760 might be looking into the use of that radicalization online 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:23.280 playing out in this way is really concerning, of course, 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:24.480 but so interesting. 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:26.680 Yeah. It kind of speaks to this new age of 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:30.040 crime that we are clearly in and how the Internet 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.920 or different types of you know, evolving technologies are being 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:38.920 weaponized to carry out crime. Prime Minister Anthony Alberizi also 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.480 commented on this yesterday, he said that he was reluctant 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:44.800 to provide too much detail out of concern that it 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:48.760 could compromise their investigations, but he said that it would 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:52.839 appear that some of these attacks are being perpetrated by 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:55.680 people and this is a quote, who don't have a 0:09:55.720 --> 0:10:02.000 particular issue, aren't motivated by an ideology, but paid actors. Again, 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:05.440 they haven't confirmed that that is just a line of investigation, 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:09.240 but that is what they've told us is where they're 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:11.040 focusing their energy at the moment. 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:15.880 So we've seen this spate of anti Semitic attacks arise 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:19.960 in anti semitism across the country in recent months, but 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:25.080 Sydney's also dealt with increased Islamophobia, is that right? 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.680 Yeah, And this is also really important to mention. So 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:32.320 at the same time as police conduct investigations into these 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:36.439 anti Semitic attacks, they are also investigating a recent incident 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:40.080 in Wiley Park, which is a suburb of southwestern Sydney. 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:43.679 So on the seventeenth of January last week, at a 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:48.240 supermarket that stocks Lebanese groceries, a wall was vandalized with 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:53.280 Islamophobic graffiti and those investigations into that incident are still ongoing. 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:57.520 And that was also not an isolated incident. There has 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:01.760 been other Islamophobic graffiti that has been spray painted in Sydney. 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:07.559 For example, last December police investigated islamophobic graffiti in chester Hill. So, 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:11.400 like you said, Emma, Sydney has also dealt with Islamophobia. 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:14.920 And there has been this wave of religious hate crime 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:18.360 and it has seen religious leaders from many faiths come 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:22.720 together to condemn all religiously motivated hate crimes. 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.200 With this concern around it increase in these hate crimes, 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:31.280 religiously motivated, racially motivated. How has the federal government responded 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:32.960 at a community level? 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.600 Yeah, So last year the federal government announced two new 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:40.600 appointments the special roles. Now, a special envoy is someone 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:44.960 who advises the government on a particular area and advocates 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.960 for a specific cause or group of people. So in 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:52.040 July last year, lawyer Gillian Siegel was announced as Australia's 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:55.880 first Special Envoy to combat anti Semitism. At the time, 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:59.160 Prime Minister Anthony Albernizi said Seagull's role is designed to 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:02.760 help Jewishes Stralians feel safe and included. In response to 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:07.080 rising anti semitism since the Israel Hamas War. Began and 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:11.000 then in September after Malik was announced as a Special 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:15.760 Envoy to combat Islamophobia in Australia. Now, Malik, who worked 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.920 in the New South Wales Premier's department for over a decade, 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:22.560 said he doesn't intend to quote advocate that one form 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:26.600 of hatred is more important than another. Both anti Semitism 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:31.480 and Islamophobia are unacceptable and both appointments will serve three 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:33.480 year terms and report to the PM. 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:36.600 Billy, thank you so much for breaking that down for 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:40.240 us today and explaining everything that's going on in Sydney 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:44.160 around Australia. Of course, this is a story that is 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:48.199 seemingly evolving by the day. We will continue to keep 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:52.200 you guys updated whatever comes next, and especially as we 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.320 hear more from National Cabinet on this one. Thank you 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.040 so much for listening to today's episode of The Daily Ours. 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.480 If you learned something, please feel free to share it 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.359 with a friend, and don't forget to follow or subscribe 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:05.719 wherever you're listening to The Daily Os or if you're 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:09.440 watching us over on YouTube. We will be back later 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:12.840 on today with your evening headlines. Until then, have a 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:13.280 good day. 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:20.000 My name is Lily Maddon. And I'm a proud Arunda 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:25.000 Bungelung Calkatin woman from Gadighl country. The Daily oz acknowledges 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.240 that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:30.800 Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:33.760 Strait island and nations. We pay our respects to the 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:36.559 first peoples of these countries, both past and present.