A warning - this next story includes vision of Nazi symbols. Police are investigating another alleged incident of antisemitic graffiti amid calls for tougher penalties
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00:00There's been several incidents of anti-Semitic behaviour reported to police and widely in
00:07the media in the last couple of days in the inner west of Sydney recently.
00:12Among them, and perhaps most concerningly, a synagogue was daubed with several swastikas
00:16and other anti-Semitic commentary, as well as accelerant, a clear liquid that was present
00:21at the scene and did take a light for a brief period before being extinguished, with police
00:26still investigating that matter.
00:28Then on Monday, police reported that anti-Semitic graffiti was noticed near one of the largest
00:34train stations in the council area.
00:37All of that has led Mayor Darcy Byrne to describe the current situation as a tinderbox with
00:42real fears over the safety of Jewish people in the area.
00:46The situation now is like a tinderbox.
00:48We've seen an attempted firebombing of a synagogue on the weekend, and if we don't act to stamp
00:53this out, it's not just that this is disrespectful or anti-Semitic, it's dangerous.
00:59And we can't wait until someone's hurt.
01:01Elsewhere we've seen interjections at both the state and federal level of politics.
01:06Federal opposition member Julian Leeser says he wants to see people charged with hate crimes,
01:11particularly anti-Semitic commentary, face minimum jail time as a result, as a mandatory
01:17consequence of those offences if convicted.
01:20However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday called on that idea, saying that law enforcement
01:25was largely a responsibility of state and territory jurisdictions, and it wasn't the
01:30place of the federal government here.
01:32However, he did say this kind of conduct, particularly commentary regarding Jewish people
01:38and the invoking of Hitler as well as Nazi symbols, is a disgusting and hateful thing
01:43to occur and only seeks to divide what is otherwise a cohesive society in Australia.
01:49The Australian Federal Police say at the moment there's a hundred open investigations
01:53into reports of attacks of anti-Semitism within the country right now.
01:59Also within New South Wales, counter-terrorism officers are leading several investigations
02:04into anti-Semitic incidents, both here in the inner west and at another synagogue late
02:09last week, which was defaced with swastikas and the invocation of Nazi insignia and regalia.
02:15While it appears local council, state government and federal government all seem to be on the
02:20same page regarding the calls for peace and cohesion, we have seen some developments recently
02:25at the state government level.
02:26Over the weekend, $340,000 was made available to the Jewish Board of Deputies to protect
02:33particular sites, including synagogues, as well as Jewish schools, with extra temporary
02:38security in what the state government believes is a heightened risk period for anti-Semitic
02:43behaviour and attacks.
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