Live on Sky News. This is Sharry.
Thanks so much Andrew, and we know you would have loved to have been then we missed having you there.
All right, good evening everyone.
Tonight, Peter Dutton commits to major reform of the Migration Act to refuse visas to andy Semites if he wins the election. This as a leading Federal court judge says the education system in Australia needs an overhaul after universities have become in many cases not only politically charged, but intolerant. More on the major outcomes from our Sky News Anti
Semitism summit. Shortly Hamas has tonight paraded the coffins on stage of Baby Kafir, Riel and Shiri in one of the most despicable sites yet their barbarity has no bounds, and Albanezi promises billions of taxpayer dollars to keep his failed Green dream alive if I'll get reaction from Basil
Zemplus and Joe Hildebrand in a moment. But first tonight refusing visas for anti Semites, banning encampments on universities, revoking taxpayer funding for the religious institutions that platform hate preachers, and reintroducing Holocaust education into the national school curriculum.
Well.
These were some of the outcomes of today's Sky News Antisemitism Summit that brought together the nation's sharpest political, legal minds and policy experts in the field. Jewish leaders and national security specialists called for a state of emergency to now be declared amid the terrifying rise.
In anti Semitism.
An esteemed Federal Court Judge Justice Michael Lee gave a powerful speech making the case for major reform of the education system. Today's summit came as the ASIO Director gener Mike Burgess last night warned that the anti Semitic attacks had not yet plataued well. Today, Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton said that reform of the Migration Act is needed
to ensure visas aren't being issued to anti Semites. He said that if he were Prime Minister, he would also revoke visas retrospectively if those who arrived in Australia did not comply with our values.
I want to send a very clear message to people who hate us, hate our country, hate Jewish people, hate other segments of our society that's under government, that ily they'll have no place in this country. You will reform the MAGWA, we will reform the migration program.
Peter Darton also expressed support for revoking the charity status from religious institutions that hosted the hate preachers. Taxpayer funds shouldn't be going towards spreading racism, that was his view. He also reci funded to the fact that Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is fast tracking twelve and a half thousand Australian citizenship applications, many in electorates where labor is
desperate to win. The Daily Telegraph has reported today that Tony Burke's department will go on an industrial scale citizenship ebscriber Ganza to give twelve five hundred New Australians their citizenship papers just in time to vote in the federal election. The tele reports that Western Sydney mayor's were furious. On Thursday, the Tony Burke's department took upcoming ceremonies out of their hands to confer citizenships on six thousand New Australians in
Olympic Park over three days from today. Now. This story broke as our summit was underway and Peter Dutton accused Tony Burke in the Albanese government of trying to bolster Labour's votes in keelect in Western Sydney right on the eve of the federal election.
Here, he was the reality is that Tony Burke is spending today and the rest of this week, as I understand it, conducting as many citizenship ceremonies as you can, literally putting thousands of people through an express citizenship process so that they can vote in the election within a
few weeks, which I think is quite remarkable. And I just question whether there has been any slackening of the process, whether there has been any compromise on the security checks, and whether it's in our country's best interests for people to receive citizenship before the proper security checks have been undertaken, or people have had within the Home Affairs Department the time to be able to conduct the searches that we would expect to be conducted.
Peter Dudden was extremely strong and more of his comments are coming up on my show tonight now. Federick Court Judge, just as Michael Lee said overhaul of the education system was needed to tackle the antisemitism scourge. He said this requires the building of a national consensus to embark upon a real reform of our education system, and he spoke about instilling a shared understanding of Australian values of tolerance,
individual liberty, and an appreciation for liberal democratic thought. In very strong remarks, he questioned who with any credibility could defend the status quo.
The University of Sydney Act expressly provides that the object of the university of which I'm a graduate is the promotion of scholarship, research, free inquiry, in the interaction of research and teaching, and academic excellence. Other universities have similarly
expressed objects. But despite these worthy goals and the effort of some well meeting academics, we would be naive in failing to recognise that the liberal arts have increasingly become sanctuaries for a prevailing pattern of thought that has tolerated, fostered, and his facilitated anti semitism.
Tolerated, fostered and facilitated anti semitism, and he's absolutely right. Justice Lee also spoke about how ignorance provides a fertile soil for ahistorical and ideologically driven notions of so called settler colonialism, which he says diminishes the Western tradition and equates it with societies that place little value on individual liberty and religious tolerance, and I'm going to play you more of his truly remarkable speech a bit later in
the show. We also today saw a very clear contrast between two labor politicians. Today New South Wales Premier Chris Mins spoke and his speech was well received by the audience at the Central Synagogue where our summit was held. Chris Min said he was ashamed that the hateful scenes of the Opera House protest had.
Unfolded under his watch.
He said he took personal responsibility for addressing this crisis and making sure that his state was safe for everyone.
I speak on behalf of millions of people in New South Wales when I say we are appalled and we are heartbroken. It was appalling to see the hateful scenes on the steps of the Sydney Opera House one day after October seventh, and I can tell you I'm deeply ashamed that it happened under my watch as Premier of this state.
And you heard the applause that he got it multiple times during his speech. The labor premier also spoke about how the spate of violent attacks had impacted on the school year, and even children.
I know this has been a terrible summer for the Jewish community of New South Wales from our conversations. I know that you're exhausted and frustrated and justifiably angry. No one should ever have to change their behavior because of the ignorance and bigotry of small minds of other people. There are Jewish kids who are no longer catching the bus to school in the morning. There are Jewish kids who are hiding their school uniforms in public, and I need to say it in an unambiguous.
Way, this is a public disgrace. This shouldn't be allowed to happen.
Well.
Chris Min's speech was heartfelt, powerful and he clearly enjoyed the strong support of the audience gathered. There were multiple rounds of applause and he received a standing ovation.
This to say that this issue is not political.
It's about how our political leaders are responding to this crisis in social cohesion. Federal Attorney General Mark drefis the most senior Jewish politician.
In our country and the son of a.
Holocaust survivor, spoke at the summit about the actions taken so far by the Albanezi government. The reception to Dreyfus couldn't have been more different to how the audience embraced Chris Mins. The live audience, who'd been invited by the synagogue, not by Sky News, reacted to Dreyfus's claim that the Albanezy government was taking strong action on anti semitism.
Like this, Australian government stands with Jewish Australians in the fight against anti semitism whenever and wherever it occurs. The Australian Government has expressly condemned words and acts of hate directed at Jewish people. The Albaneze government has not just talked about anti semitism. We have acted and we will keep acting.
Drovers also appeared to take a swipe at media outlets for covering the antisemitism crisis.
Anti Semitism cannot and must not be weaponized in the pursuit of votes. It must not be weaponized in the pursuit of newspaper sales or TV ratings.
Either newspaper sales and TV ratings. Well, presumably he's referring to Sky News, a newscop there which almost every other speaker today acknowledged for our strong stand against antisemitism.
The suggestion that we're doing this for.
Ratings or profit is deeply offensive. Attorney General, I'd love nothing more than never have to report on antisemitism again. Our lives have been turned upside down since October seven, with enormous daily anxiety and regular attacks on Jewish targets. We're covering this and we're pushing back against it, not for ratings or profits, but because it's our moral obligation. We won't stay silent, and we shouldn't stay silent, and
no one in this country should either. Former Treasurer Josh Friedenberg delivered one of the most moving and powerful speeches of the day. Reflecting on how the crisis developed. He said, at first our leaders decided to ignore it, and then they hoped it would go away. He said the sum of current action was simply not enough, and he compared it to scooping water out of a boat that has a leak hoping it wouldn't sink.
There is no point scooping water.
Out of our boat that has a leak hoping it will not sink.
You must plug the leak first, otherwise all on board due and non dew will eventually drown.
And this is my message today.
And we'll play you more of Josh Friedenberg's remarkable speech. Later in the show, Former Home Affair Secretary Mike Pizzullo said, the current antisemitism crisis should be declared a national emergency.
Should this be declared a national emergency?
Yes, I believe that we're an event to occur. We look back, the Raw Commission would look back and say there was a failure to declare this a national terror situation, which is required, which is an activity under the National Counterrorism Plan. That means that we pull together all of the streams that I just spoke about, that declaration should be made today.
And that suggestion was one of the key actionable outcomes that emerged from the summit. Jewish community leader Alex Ripchen, who hosted the summit with me, spoke about the reforms needed to make a tangible difference in the racism against Jews unfolding in Australia.
The federal government should declare the existence of a national emergency. An Establisher joins. An Establisher joined Canaterrism task Force led by a single Minister to coordinate and mobilize all relevant agencies in the fight against antisemitic terror. Before we have a major terror attack in this country. Uniformed police and
guidelines should be established. An intelligence and law enforce should be trained in understanding what anti semitism is and how it is expressed, so that they can identify and prosecute those who commit crimes.
Aside from the national Emergency, some of the other key reforms were having antisemitism education including the study of Holocaust in the national curriculum, a public awareness an advertising campaign, a national ban on encampments at universities about on the disruption of lectures by protesters, a judicial inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities. Revoking the charity status and all funding if religious and charitable institutions promote racism or display terror symbols.
Reforming the Migration Act so that antisemitic conduct is grounds to refuse, a new visa all counsel an existing one. Government grants to festivals and individuals should come with a condition that the recipient does not spread races, and those grants can also be revoked now. Alex Rupchun also spoke about how important these reforms are and he called for political parties to commit to them ahead of the federal.
Election, Government, law enforcement, community organizations must do their part, but I ask you to please do yours. Your messages of support mean the world to us, truly, But the rest of the country needs to hear you too, particularly in those dark recesses of ignorance and malice. They need to hear that they will not define this country. Each of us has a platform and the ability to influence those around them, So speak out, condemn anti Semitism wherever you see it.
Many of the summit demands were already strongly endorsed by Peter Dutton when I interviewed him today. But as many speakers today said, this is not simply an issue for the Jewish community. This goes to the fundamental character of our country. It goes to our national security, our sovereignty, and the values that underpin our Western liberal democracy. And until the wave of terror attacks stop, until safety returns to our streets, we will continue to campaign for a
better world. Now tonight, Hamas has handed over to Israel the bodies of mum Shiri Bibas and her two babies, Ariel and Kafa. It's right now in the process of handing those bodies over. Shiri and her two beautiful sons were stolen from their homes in the greatest of distress. On October seven, Hamas and other Palestinian terror organizations kidnapped this mother and her young children, dragging them into Gaza
where civilians celebrated. This senseless act of terrorism and cruelty is truly inexplicable.
Here was Ariel.
I'm going to show you now, a happy boy, a toddler, and a child before his life was destroyed by barbarians at the age of just four.
Have a look.
Ariel and his baby brother Kafir had their whole lives ahead of them. Now they returned to Israel in coffins, and Humas has no qualms about parading those coffins on a stage, as they've done this evening, as if they're proud of this murder and evil, and civilians have come out to celebrate their filming.
They've taken their.
Children like it's some fun day out to watch the coffins of a baby and a child and a mother on stage. Israeli ambassador and me and Maimon spoke about the plight of the Bibas family today at our summit.
In just a few hours, four of the seventy three Israeli's hostages are expected to be released, but sadly, only there remains while we wait for instant confirmation.
It is believed these will be the bodies of the Bibas family, Shiri, Arielle and film and eighty five years old or dead lifshits brutally murdered by harmasterers.
We will not rest until they're all return home.
The evil of Hamas and the other terror groups that kidnapped Shiri and her children will Their evil knows no bounds. The depravity runs deeper than we can ever imagine. Looking at that site of the coffins on the stage and thinking about how Hamas has won so much support in Western institutions and in international forums, it makes me conclude that the world is deeply broken. Okay, let's have a look at some of the other big stories around today.
Let's bring in our Perth mayor Basil Zemplis and Sky News host Joe Hildebrand.
Welcome to you, vote, good evening.
And congratulate sharing on the summit.
Thank you son, Thank you Joe. So let's talk about this major economic story coming out of Wyla today. The Prime Minister and the Premier Peter Mallanaskis promised two point four billion dollars of taxpayer money to keep Wyala still works. Afloat here was alban easy today.
But our priority, which is immediate, is securing the jobs right here in Wyala. I remember the previous government, the same government that told the car industry to bugger off from South Australia also said that Woyala would be wiped off the map if we actually took action. Of course none of that occurred. We want Wylla not just to survive, but to thrive and grow.
Basil zamplars.
Is this appropriate to throw billions of dollars more taxpayer money at this.
Well?
I think the Whyala works need to be kept a float. It is that important to the state of South Australia to so many jobs in the South Australian economy, and obviously has flow on effects for Australia. But it really should never have come to this, and I think Labour's ideological pursuit of renewables at all cost has to come
into question. We know that the hydrogen that was being pursued has just not worked, and it's one of five closes I think in the last twelve months, and that is the path that labor continue wanting to take the Australian people down. If it doesn't add up, if the technology cannot be guaranteed, and if the sums are not there to make it work, pursuing it like this is nonsensical.
But Wyler needs to be supported, and I think in these desperate times, this transferral, if you like, of these funds across to keep Wiler still Works going is an important move and one that I think Peter Dutton and the Coalition have said they support.
Joe Hudebrand, you know, as Bazil just said, hydrogen projects are falling over left, right and center. Countries around the world are embracing nuclear.
Yet Alban Easy.
Refuses to touch nuclear and he still says this isn't the end of hydrogen.
Yeah, well look.
Nuclear was never going to come in time to save the way o the steel works.
No, it's about the position he's taking on different energy.
Well, I suppose it's about what you do in the here and now, and again, I've got no ideological problem with nuclear whatsoever.
I do not fear nuclear power. But the problem is we just.
Do not have a nuclear industry in Australia that is up and running in order to be able to produce the kind of power we need in a timely fashion.
But shelving the nuclear argument to one side for a second, the whole point obviously of green hydrogen is that you can get the energy intensity that you can't get from solar and wind, and so that means for really really intensive projects like steel works, like steel and aluminium smelters, which you simply cannot get wind and solar simply cannot produce enough power at the right time to put the huge amount of energy you need to basically melt the
steel and the energy, which is why you use cocing cop. So if there is a question mark over whether or not Whyala steel works will go ahead, and obviously they're saying they're going to save it, but even if there's a smallst question mark, you would put the green hydrogen on hold because the only reason you would have that
is once you know that it's going ahead. So it actually is a perfectly sensible economic decision to pause the green hydrogen and the electoralizers until you know that the steel works is definitely going to be ongoing concern and we do have to save it because Whyala produces steel almost exclusively for an Australian market, So it produces Australian steel in Australia for.
Consumption by Australia. And we know that.
The supply chains that we used to take for granted, we simply cannot anymore.
And if we do not make our own.
Steel here, it puts us at the mercy of cheaper, lower grade Chinese.
Steel that we have to import.
And we all know what happens when the Chinese have economic leverage like that and we say something to upset them. Suddenly, you know, or the steel stops coming, or the steel goes up, or the bar he's not important or whatever.
So it is an absolute necessity that we keep it.
All right, Let's turn to this extraordinary and really worrying story today, Donald Trump launching a war of words against Ukrainian President Voladimir Zelenski, accusing him of being a dictator and bizarrely implying Ukraine started the war with Russia.
Have a look, you should have never started it.
You could have made a deal.
Well, we have a situation where we haven't had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine. Where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he's down at four percent approval rating.
Well Tony Abbott in London responded to this claim very strongly.
Well, let's be very clear.
Putin started this war, Russia started this war, and anyone who thinks otherwise is living in fantasyland. Now, obviously we want peace, but it can't just be a surrender to vicious, naked aggression.
Basil.
I thought this was a really worrying sign today. This was even stronger language than Trump used in the election campaign, and as Andrew Bolt said earlier, it seems like you might be taking his cues from some of the naughty internet figures.
It was only a matter of time before we went from wobbley to wheels falling off, at least momentarily from Donald Trump. We know we're in for a bumpy four years, but this was so off course and so unexpected that I think the world is still digesting exactly what is he trying to do here, Because nobody accepts the premise other than Vladimir Putin, I should imagine, nobody accepts the premise that he has put forward that somehow Ukraine started this war?
So what's he getting at? As he just this is just.
A case of Donald Trump and Donald Trump, and he's not quite sure what he's saying, or he's misspoken in such a way that he's just confused himself and everyone, or is there some deal at play here with Vladimir Putin and Russia? And that then becomes the really alarming question, what is the deal, what does it mean, what's the endgame of it? And who are the casualties on the way through to that endgame? So we've got a lot more questions than we have answers right now.
Joe, I thought it.
Was pretty good today that the opposition leader Peter Dutton came out against these comments by Trump. You know, it showed that he does have strength, is not going to be beholden to Trump should he.
Win the next election.
But you know, I don't think the characterization is right that Trump didn't know what he was saying.
He does, so what's what's his endgame?
Look, as you know, there is a school of thought, believe it or not, among sort of ultra ultra ultra ultra ultra conservative people who think that Ukraine actually provoked Russia by toying with the idea of joining NATO, and then you listen to all, you know, all bladmir Putin's crazy sort of you know, centuries old history of the Kiev russ and how it all started in.
Kiev and really that's part of RUSSI and blah blah blah blah. So he's gone down.
That rabbit These are the nutty Internet pep, that's.
Right, and so he's gone down that rabbit hole. He's clearly captive to that view. You then had Zolensky overnight yesterday saying that you know that Trump is living in fantasy land.
And he's listening to sort of fairies or whatever.
And we all know that when you criticize Trump, he gets very very mean, very very personal, very very quickly.
He's then come out and said, well, Zolensky wasn't a very successful comedian, and he's really unpopular as a president, and he's refusing to hold any elections, and you know, in a lot of ways, it's just Trump being Trump, and it's enormously entertaining when lives are not at stake, but when you actually have a nation state under attack from a much larger, much an aggressor that clearly has no moral boundaries. It stops being funny very quickly.
I mean, you say.
Trump's being Trump, But to me, everything Trump has done as president up until this point has been welcome, has been a breath of fresh air.
This is the.
First thing he's done that's right, But that is inexplicable that you can't defend well.
I suppose the thing is when you have a crash or crash through approach, and you have Donald Trump and his supporters who have these views that at times are in line with the mainstream but at times are in
line with the dark corners of the Internet. Sooner or later you are going to get to a situation where the stuff that Donald Trump did that was fun and often effective and and sort of forced people into action, where he sort of rips up the rule book and says, right, if you guys don't sort it out in Gaza, we're going to turn it.
All into I just think it's completely different propositions. I think those are totally different from you.
It is exactly the same thing that Trump is doing. He's just doing it in a different place with different consequences.
And that and that is and that is the thing.
So if you're going to accept trump Ism, you have to accept that it's not always going to go your way.
All right.
I think we don't have time to disagree any longer because I've got to get to an outbreak. But Joe Hildebrand and Basil zemplars great to see you vote. After the break, Peter Dutton signals reforms of the migration active he becomes Prime Minister. He also threatens to counsel the visas of anyone who doesn't share our values. There, says Tony Burke, rushes through twelve thousand citizenships right in time for the election. That interview with Dutton coming up after this quick break.
Welcome back.
Well, now let's turn to Peter Dutton's strong remarks today. I spoke to him about the AZO bus, Mike Burgess's warning about our national security. Dutton commits the coalition to reforming the Migration Act. Annie says he's concerned the government is slackening the requirements for citizenship so they can make sure more people are voting for them at the next election.
Here's that interview. Peter Dutton, the Director General of ASIO.
Mike Burgess last night said that the normalization of violent protest and intimidating behavior lowered the threshold for provocative.
And potentially violent acts.
He said, narratives originally centered on freeing Palestine expanded to include incitements to kill the Jews. Threats transitioned from harassment and intimidation to specific targeting of Jewish communities, places of worship, and prominent figures. In other words, he's saying the hate speech was tolerated and that then escalated.
To violent crime.
Peter Dutton, this should never have been tolerated at the start.
It shouldn't and it's a damning assessment from somebody who knows the space very well. My Burgess is an expert at counterterrorism and dealing with the national security threat. He would be looking at the entire security and intelligence holdings that he's receiving, not just domestically but internationally as well. So we should take very seriously what he's saying and it should be a light bulb moment for every Australian.
Every Australian should recognize that this is a problem for them, for their kids, for their communities, not just for the Jewish community. And I think it's incumbent on every Australian to step up and heed the advice of the Director
General of Security. And it's an abomination if people don't know boundaries, and particularly given that we're dealing with people who don't adhere to what would be for many the vast majority of Australians as a standard of decency, that they don't see life through the lens that we do. And that's why laws exist to respond and to send a very clear message that certain behaviors are acceptable, and
that hasn't been the case. The law hasn't been enforced and there has been no deterrence and therefore people continue to march across the red lines and it's not something that we should tolerate.
He said.
The attacks have not yet plateaued the attacks and the Jewish community anti Semitic attacks. And yet we just heard the Attorney General of Australia, Mark Drapers claimed that TV networks presumably ours and newspapers again presumably news cops are covering this issue for ratings or sales.
What's your reaction to.
A comment like that When we heard the ASIO Director General last night say that this is a grave issue.
Well, I think it's just a further blow to people within the Jewish community and decent Australians who support them, because I think the government should be speaking with those people who have been victims of the attacks, of the dosing of the personal abuse, speak to the parents who send their children reluctantly to childcare centers now because they're
worried whether it's a place of safety or not. They're worried whether the armed guards at the school can do the work that they're required to do if there's an attack and none of us, as parents otherwise across society have to experience that whatsoever. And if the government suggesting that somehow this is an issue that's been politicized or emphasized for political gain, I think they're completely removed from the reality and the.
Horror that people are living in.
It destroys me that we have people in our country of Jewish faith or heritage who are living in fear and don't recognize this country. We're an inclusive country and we've welcomed people from every part of the world and it's an incredible part of our fabric and that we would treat people like this.
Is just unbelievable.
The Bangstown nurses video last week clearly to everyone exposed. I suppose what we all knew already that there is hatred towards Jews that exists quite strongly in some communities and even by people that we've given the gift of Australian citizenship too. Do you think the Migration Act should be amended so that anti Semitic conduct is grounds to refuse a new visa?
Yes, without question.
We've announced it, will tighten up the section five they want it. I want to send a very clear message to people who hate us, hate our country, hate Jewish people, hate other segments about society that's under a government that I lead, They'll have no place in this country.
And will refine the makewa.
We will reformed the migration program. When I was Immigration Minister, we deported about six thousand people by keys, people had committed sexual assaults against children, people who had committed the most tenous offenses. And it sent a message that if you are here as a non citizen and you're expecting to attack or to commit an offense against an Australian citizen without consequence, that that has no place in.
A civilized society.
Liked there's no other democracy, there's no other society where the rule of law is adhered to that that wouldn't be the case and it shouldn't be remarkable that we're
making that statement. And the Section five oh one provisions, the character provisions, can extend to anti submitted conduct, and we've announced that it will be retrospective back to the seventh of October, so that people know that they will be captured by the law for the actions that they're committing today, that they've committed over the course of last seventeen months.
Creative Australia or an agency that sits under Tony Burke, who's both the Home Affairs Minister and the Multicultural Affairs Minister. Yep, I can't find that he's actually ever been to a Jewish or Israeli function. I've asked his office on a number of occasions, can you name me one Jewish function that the Minister has attended since October seven? They claim he has, but they can't name one. His agency, Creative Australia, just as you know, selected an artist to represent our
country at an international festival next year. One of his artworks was called thank You very Much, a video compilation of the September eleven attacks.
Another one was of.
The slain, hasbla leader, Hasansraala. You know, these agencies to me seem completely broken.
How do you deal.
With something like that that is getting millions of dollars in government funding.
We'll shore there are obviously problems deep within the department that would approve such a grant and not raise it with the Minister as an issue of concern, and as suppose to your point, we don't know whether it has been raised and whether the government dismissed it and said that the funding was acceptable. I think there are reasonable
questions for the Prime Minister to answer. And if we go a little bit further though, my experience in government is that if the Minister has the fortitude and the leadership capacity to be able to give definite direction to the department, the department will follow that leadership and follow that direction. It just hasn't happened from the Prime Minister down.
The bureaucracy is running.
To Penny Wong, to Tony Burke, Mark Dreyfus and so on, and it has resulted in this compounding effect of hatred red lines being christ As we say, and to your point, in terms of Tony Burke's diary, I mean the reality is that Tony Burke is spending today and the rest of this week, as I understand it, conducting as many citizenship ceremonies as you can, literally putting thousands of people through an express citizenship process so that they can vote
in the election within a few weeks, which I think is quite remarkable. And I just question whether there has been any slackening of the process, whether there has been any compromise on the security checks, and whether it's in our country's best interests for people to receive citizenship before the proper security checks have been undertaken, or people have had within the Home Affairs Department the time to be able to conduct the searches that we would expect to be conducted.
Wow, that's an extraordinary allegation. So you do hold serious concerns that the Albanezy government is fast tracking citizenship.
Yes, and for a particular cohort.
And I mean we'd heard this and the Daily Tellies has broken that story today.
Peter Dutton, thank you so much for your time.
All right, still to come Justice Michael Lee calls for major overhaul of our education system. Plus Josh Fridenberg's incredible speech lamenting the leadership over the past sixteen months.
That's after this quick break. Welcome back.
And by the way, if you want to watch Peter Dutton's entire interview from today, and I recommend you do so, please head to our website skynews dot com dot au. All of the speeches from today are up there now. One of the most powerful speeches today was from former Treasurer Josh Friedenberg. We've had to cut it down for time now, but again head on ting to watch it in full. But here's some of what Josh had to say.
At first, our leaders decided to ignore what was happening.
Then they just hoped it would go away.
Now, belatedly they are starting to appreciate the depth of the problem. But what has happened in the past is not as important as what happens right now. It's what we do from here, friends. Adversity is our window of opportunity.
I am pleased we.
Are starting to see movement at the station, a meeting of national Cabinet, a federal police task force that is making arrests, minimum mandatory sentences, anti doxing legislation, and at a state level, a ban on demonstrations outside places of worship. All of which are important, all of which are welcome, but the sum of which is not enough.
You see, these measures are largely.
Reactive, and what we need is to be more proactive. There is no point scooping water.
Out of a boat that has a leak hoping it will not sink.
You must plug the leak first, otherwise all on board, Jew and non Jew will eventually drown.
And this is my message today. Our country is at a pivotal moment.
That goes well beyond everyday incidents of anti Semitism and hate. There is something more sinister, something deeper, that is at play.
And it should concern.
Every single decent Australian.
What we are seeing in.
Australia and indeed across many countries in the West, is best some by journalist Bariweess when she said, when anti Semitism goes from the shameful fringe to the public square, it's no longer about the Jews, It's about everyone else. It's about a culture, it's about a country. It's an early warning system, a sign that society is breaking down.
How else.
Can you explain other reputable bodies and reputable people seek to defend the Bankstown nurses by saying they were simply making a joke, Or a vice chancellor at one of our leading universities who sought to explain away a student's public support for hamas invoking academic freedom, or other university leaders.
Who seek to defend violent.
Statements from the river to the sea Palestine will be free or globalized into FATA as simply the exercise of free speech. Friends, with such moral blindness, it's no wonder that our houses of learning have become hotbeds of hate, that the anti racists have become racists, and that the progressives have become regressives. The disease of intolerance is spreading and it's infecting so many across our country, and particularly our young. So now is the time to stand up
and be counted before it is too late. To get back to basics and defend what is right over what is wrong. To promote and uphold our values of freedom, tolerance, diversity and respect for the rule of law. These are not labor or liberal values. These are Australia's values and they belong to all of us.
All.
Right, after the break, we'll hear the insightful words of justice Michael Lee. He's caught out the lack of moral clarity in our tertiary education, which has fostered the growing intolerance on campuses.
That's after this quick break.
Well, we're so grateful to everyone who took part in our summit today, both live and from home. But from the wise words of Justice Michael Lee, we all come away from this event facing a great challenge, particularly with the moral failings of our university leaders and academics. Here's some more from his insightful speech today.
Is it not an outrage that another leading Australian university has set up a high security safe room for Jewish students. This room, according to recent reports, is a location that has not been disclosed, has security features that can only be accessed by students. I assume Jewish students using White card.
Those students were understandably feeling threatened by, among other things, being forced to endure continued demonstrations calling for the destruction of Israel and confronting posters depicting standard tropes such as Jews as thieves with long noses. I recognize that the safe room was apparently requested by the Australasian Union of Jewish Students, but the key point is that its establishment
amounts to a stark admission of failure. The entire university should and must be made safe for Jewish students, rather than isolating Jewish students. Should not those within university be asking themselves the profound question as to how and why things have come to this and committing themselves to reform. It is a great moral failing at the leadership of at least some of our universities that some students, to my personal knowledge, are now afraid afraid of being identified
by their fellow students as being Jewish. It's unsurprising we've reached this point when new university students have grown up in our current secondary education system. When a dozen or so years ago I reviewed what was being taught to members of my family at high school, it not only struck me as lacking in intellectual rigor, but also reflected a want of any sense of pride in our established institutions. Indeed, in some respects, particularly in modern history, it encouraged the
spirit of national masochism. It was the pedagogy of the cynic, laden with subjectivity and criticism, and where the difference between historical fact and opinion was blurred. The other day I came across some interesting facts. Apparently, there are now three mandatory curriculum priorities of the Australian National curriculum. First, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. Secondly Australia's engagement
with Asia. Thirdly sustainability, that is, empowering students to contribute to a more sustainable future. These priorities are apparently embedded throughout the curriculum. But even in promoting these chosen priorities, the recent twenty twenty four National Assessment Program results reflects a profound lack of knowledge. Remarkably, only twenty eight percent of Year ten students met the proficient standard and the
Civics test. Incidentally, I did the sample test. It was not Civics teaching as I understand it, and it was fair to say, somewhat undemanding, but it did reflect these mandatory cross curriculum priorities. This is not a party political point, as I understand that the previous government developed and signed off from the current curriculum. Further, the person many would contend as the best state education minister in my lifetime, and my dear friend Rodney Cavalier was and is a
man of the political left. Having had the better of a rigorous public education, he believed in purposeful, scholarly inquiry, a general education which fostered both a sense of history and the ability to learn to learn. Things have now changed,
and this has an importance that transcends contemporary politics. But Heaven help a child in twenty twenty five with a desire to understand the modern history of this country, the achievements of Western civilization, the benefits of the Enlightenment, and the virtues and workings of our modern parliamentary democracy sustained
and underpinned by the rule of law. It is unsurprising that a generation almost wholly unfamiliar with these history and concepts are open to a skewed narrative that divides the
world simplistically into oppressors and the oppressed. Ignorance provides a fertile soil for an ahistorical and ideologically driven notions of so called settler colonialism and moral relativism, which diminishes the Western tradition and equates it with societies that place them value on individual liberty and religious tolerance.
The rest is online. I'll see you Monday at eight. Here's Paul Murray