Latest news with #Leeser
Sky News AU
6 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Julian Leeser urges Anthony Albanese to commit and implement Special Envoy recommendations on antisemitism
Liberal MP Julian Lesser has called on Anthony Albanese to implement all recommendations in the Special Envoy's Plan to Combat Antisemitism. Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal handed down a major report on Thursday, outlining a series of measures to combat antisemitism she claimed had 'reached a tipping point that threatens social harmony, undermines trust in institutions and marginalises Jewish Australian citizens'. Speaking to Sky News Australia on Sunday, Mr Leeser welcomed the report as he stressed the need for the recommendations to be implemented. 'While this is a terrific work plan for the Special Envoy, what we haven't seen is a commitment from government,' Mr Leeser told Kieran Gilbert on Sky News' Sunday Agenda. 'The Special Envoy's got a very big task ahead of her if she's going to bring the universities to heel, if she going to deal with the cultural institutions, if she's going to deal with social media companies. 'In order to be successful, she needs to do that with the full commitment of the Prime Minister in his office. And that's why we're calling on the Prime Minster, and Tony Burke, and the Government to commit to the Special Envoy's recommendations. 'And while the Prime Minister and Tony Burke made all the right noises at the press conference earlier this week, we've seen in the past the Special Envoys make sensible recommendations and yet those recommendations (have been) ignored." Mr Leeser said the most disturbing factor following the Hamas October 7 attack is the seriousness some people don't show towards antisemitism. 'One of the most disturbing factors in the report is the fact that young people under 35 don't recognise the seriousness of antisemitism and don't treat it properly. And that is in part because of what is happening in our schools, in our universities and online,' he said. An issue the Liberal MP has been pushing for is an inquiry into the 'normalised' stance on antisemitism at university campuses and cultural institutions. 'We have antisemitism having been normalised on university campuses and in the cultural institutions,' he said. 'More than a year ago, I put forward a proposal for a judicial inquiry into antisemitism on campus, where we've had university academics having their offices urinated on, where we've had students wearing Yarmulkes' being spat at and told that they're responsible for the deaths of babies in Gaza. 'This is an intolerable situation to go on. We've had Jewish artists cancelled. We've had things going on online and in schools and in other areas of our society that the Prime Minister has refused to address.' Mr Leeser said universities should be life-transforming places where people get an education, have more opportunities in life and can freely debate and engage in ideas of robust and difficult conversations. Instead, he said there is hate and division rising across Australian campuses where Jewish staff and students are being silenced and intimidated. 'There has been an attempt to silence Jewish academics. There has been an attempt to intimidate Jewish academics, Jewish staff and Jewish students in recent times. And that just shouldn't be what universities are about,' he added. 'And the worst thing has been the way in which university leaders have been too slow to act or ignored the fact that there was any problem.' Mr Leeser pointed towards a moment where pro-Palestine encampments continued for months at Sydney University until Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark Scott apologised to Jewish students for failing them. 'The encampment were only disbanded after the Vice-Chancellor promised to let His Butte to Rear, which is an organisation that several of our partners list as a terrorist organisation, run their ruler over security and defence contracts that the university had, just demonstrated how out of touch universities are with the expectations of ordinary Australians that universities should be a place for free debate and inquiry,' he said. At the time, Professor Scott said he apologised to Jewish students for feeling unsafe during the eight-week Students for Palestine protest. "If students have felt unsafe or unwelcome, if that is their lived experience, if that is their testimony, we have failed them," he said. "Yes, I have failed them and the university has failed them and that is why we have made significant changes to our policy settings.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism report comes at a time of the recent rise of hate towards Jewish Australians. 'The Albanese Government has zero tolerance for prejudice or hatred of any kind,' Mr Albanese said. 'Antisemitic behaviour in Australia, including its recent rise, is unacceptable and the appointment of Ms Segal demonstrates our Government's firm commitment to tackling antisemitism head-on.' Ms Segal said combating antisemitism has never been more important than it is today. 'The Jewish community in Australia is experiencing valid feelings of fear in the face of increasing antisemitism,' she said.
Sky News AU
6 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Coalition demands Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raise important ‘security issues' in meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping
The federal Coalition is demanding Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raise important 'security issues' in his upcoming meeting with China's President. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese landed in Beijing late on Saturday evening, beginning a six-day visit that will include his fourth meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping. Key figures in the Albanese government have said they hope the trip will lead to a stronger 'economic partnership' with China, which is by far Australia's largest trading partner. The federal Coalition has welcomed the focus on stronger economic ties, but shadow attorney general Julian Leeser stressed the government must raise security issues that continue to be a source of tension between the two countries. 'The relationship with China is very important… It's really important for Australian jobs and the Australian economy that we have a successful trading relationship with China,' Mr Leeser told Sunday Agenda. 'China is our largest trading partner. They're larger in terms of trade, than the next four or five trading partners combined. 'We want to see more markets for Australian goods - like blueberries… so the focus on the economy is very good. 'But we also must make sure that the Prime Minister raises some of the security issues that are part of the relationship.' The shadow minister named a Chinese warship conducting live fire drills in the Tasman Sea earlier this year, as well as the importance of the US presence in the Indo-Pacific, as among the issues the Prime Minister must raise. 'What happened in the Tasman Sea, where we had the Chinese warships in the Tasman Sea in a disrespectful manner, is not on, and it's important that the Prime Minister raise these issues,' he said. 'It's important that the Prime Minister raise the ongoing relationship with the US, and the US's role in the Indo-Pacific, and that he raises the detention and treatment of Australians in Chinese prisons as well. 'Those are issues that are also part of the relationship. So I welcome a focus on trade, but we need to hear a comprehensive discussion between the Prime Minister and President Xi.' Treasurer Jim Chalmers told Sky News Australia the Albanese government had raised issues of disagreement as it worked to stabilise the relationship since taking office. 'We've worked really hard to stabilise this relationship. We've worked through issues in a calm and consistent way without compromising what's important to us,' Mr Chalmers said. 'We've raised issues and complexities when it's been important that we do that. 'But overall, our efforts to stabilise the relationship and now to strengthen that relationship are in the interests of our people and their economy. There couldn't be a more important time to do that. "That's why it's so good that Prime Minister Albanese is engaging with leaders in China, businesses in China, to try and maximise these opportunities that are so central to the relationship." Mr Leeser said he wanted Australia to have a 'good trading relationship with China', but he signalled this was unlikely unless the CCP changed its approach to the rules-based international order. 'I think it's very much in both countries' interests for it to return to those days (during the Howard government), where we had record trade with China and we had a relationship in relation to security and other geostrategic issues that did not concern us. "We want to have an Indo-Pacific where countries abide by the rules-based international order, where no one power is dominant, where there is people playing by the rules of law - that's very, very important. "We've worked through issues in a calm and consistent way without compromising what's important to us," the Treasurer said. "We've raised issues and complexities when it's been important that we do that. But overall, our efforts to stabilise the relationship and now to strengthen that relationship in the interests of our people and their economy, there couldn't be a more important time to do that. "That's why it's so good that Prime Minister Albanese is engaging with leaders in China, businesses in China, to try and maximise these opportunities that are so central to the relationship. 'We want to have a respectful relationship with China, and we want to have a good trading relationship with China. If the People's Republic of China wants to do that with Australia, then we're very much up for that.'
Sky News AU
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
NSW Liberals lobby party to implement US-style primary system to choose candidates as re-build continues
High ranking NSW Liberals are calling on Sussan Ley to consider imposing a US-style primary system to pre-select candidates in significant structural overhaul of the party's long-standing practices. The NSW Liberals were all but decimated at the recent federal election which has led to internal debate about how to bolster the party's appeal and revitalise aging local branches. Gender quotas have become a point of contention within the party, with proponents and critics engaging in a bitter public dispute including in a leaked group chat titled 'quotas v merit' where senior Libs debated the policies validity. However, top NSW Liberals have touted a separate route, urging the party to revamp its pre-selection process through the use of US-style open primary elections. Shadow attorney general and federal member for Berowra Julian Leeser has said opening up pre-selection to non-members and the wider public would expand the Liberal Party's scope and bring in a new wave of members. 'The best way to ensure that our members reflect the communities that they represent is to have the largest number of members of the general community choose them,' Mr Leeser told the Telegraph. Mr Leeser, who is one of the last Liberal members occupying an outer-metropolitan seat nationwide said the plan would increase 'diversity' and 'overcome the challenge of a declining membership an supporter base.' Liberal Party pre-selection, which currently involves local party members and state delegates voting to choose a candidate, would be scrapped, with all eligible voters in the relevant electorate given the chance to have their say under the proposed model. Mr Leeser, who narrowly fended of a challenge from local publisher turned Teal candidate Tina Brown said holding US-primary style elections would bring ideological vigour to local branches and allow the community to actively immerse themselves in the inner workings of the Party. He insisted it would 'demonstrate to the general public that we are a broad, open welcoming party that is seeking the best talent available.' Mr Leeser has been a long-time advocate of parachuting the concept of US primary elections down under, with the move also receiving the support of numerous party elders including former NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. The method was previously considered a fringe idea in Liberal ranks. Shadow defence minister and former Liberal leadership contender Angus Taylor backed Mr Leeser's proposal and said open primaries could aid in rebuilding the party's 'grassroots movement.' 'One pathway to do that would be by bringing in primaries,' Mr Taylor told The Daily Telegraph. 'The objective here has to be to rebuild the grassroots political movement that stands for our values, and to do that we're going to have to involve and engage people in ways we haven't before.' Mr Taylor's staunch NSW Right factional ally Anthony Roberts also endorsed primary elections and said it would prevent powerbrokers from hand selecting their candidate of choice in a given electorate. 'The days of captain's picks have got to be over, they are proven not to work,' Mr Roberts said. Mr Leeser said the party should work to commence a trial to gauge the efficacy of primary elections, and that the method should be piloted in a Teal, regional and western Sydney seat.
West Australian
05-07-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Australia's Jewish communities need increased protection, Opposition tell Prime Minister
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been urged to do more to protect Australia's Jewish communities following an arson attack on an east Melbourne synagogue on Friday night. Some 20 people were inside the synagogue at the time of the incident, in which flammable liquid was poured on the front door and set alight. The occupants managed to escape via the rear of the building and no one was injured. Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser said Mr Albanese needed to follow the lead of other world leaders in lifting efforts to protect Jewish communities from hateful attacks against the backdrop of conflict in the Middle East. Mr Leeser said the PM had ignored a letter, sent on June 15, from Opposition leader Sussan Ley, shadow minister for home affairs Andrew Hastie and himself which had stressed the need for greater protection. 'This is a very sad day for Australia . . . one of the oldest synagogues in Australia has been fire bombed,' he told reporters on Saturday. 'It's a synagogue that bespeaks the rich and long history of the Jewish people in this country. There's even a prayer for the King there that goes back to Queen Victoria's time in both Hebrew and English. 'This is an attack on all Australians. It is not just an attack on the Jewish community and it sickens me, but yet again the Jewish community is having to put up with these attacks, and the increasing anti-Semitism people think has gone away but continues, sadly, unabated.' Mr Leeser said the Opposition was putting the PM on notice to take more steps to protect the Jewish community. 'I don't know that he's done all he can here,' he said. 'We're calling on him to explain what measures he has taken to protect the Jewish community, and if he didn't take increased measures, why he didn't take increased measures at that time.' Mr Leeser said there needed to be increased police presence and security around Jewish community buildings. 'We have got to put an end to the hate that we see in this country,' he said. Victorian premier Jacinta Allan has condemned the synagogue attack as 'disgraceful behaviour by a pack of cowards'. 'That this happened on Shabbat makes it all the more abhorrent,' she said in a statement. 'Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of anti-Semitism.' On Saturday, police released the image of a man detectives want to speak to about the incident. He has been described as being of Caucasian appearance, believed to be in his 30s with a beard and long hair. Damage from the fire was contained to the front entrance.
Sydney Morning Herald
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Pro-Voice Liberal says referendum defeat gave the party ‘a false sense of confidence'
The Coalition's success in defeating the Voice to parliament referendum gave the Liberal party 'a false sense of confidence' about its chances of victory, says former shadow attorney general Julian Leeser, who resigned from his opposition portfolio in 2023 in order to campaign for the referendum. Noting that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese 'seemed to lose his way' after the Voice referendum was defeated in all states in October 2023, Leeser told ABC's Afternoon Briefing that this, combined with Albanese's poor handling of the local antisemitism crisis, 'gave so many in our party a false sense of confidence'. Leeser says he was 'shocked' that the internal polling conducted for the Coalition by Freshwater's Mike Turner used the number of Labor voters who voted no in the referendum in his calculations of a swing against the government, which was instead returned in a landslide and is likely to end up with 94 seats, equalling John Howard's record in 1996. 'On one level, there is nothing wrong with trying to target those Labor voters who voted no in the referendum campaign,' he said, saying Howard targeted those who rejected the republic proposal in 1999, but only to remind them of other issues such as border security. 'I thought it was very strange there was such a focus even on the campaign itself,' Leeser said. Loading 'Part of the reason my colleagues were successfully defeating the referendum was in 2023 the issue did not seem to be one of top priority for Australian voters. Certainly, in 2025, it was completely irrelevant and I had no idea why the issue kept reappearing in our campaign.' While former opposition leader Peter Dutton regularly raised the Voice as one of several examples to demonstrate that Labor was out of touch, he campaigned in the final days of the campaign on the claim that the government had a 'secret plan to legislate the Voice' after Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong told the Betoota Talks podcast that she thought 'we'll look back on it in 10 years' time and it'll be a bit like marriage equality'. Albanese ruled out bringing back the Voice and accused Dutton of 'verballing' Wong.
