Anthony Albanese - How long? -3-

[JackOutback]

Now? Or in hindsight?

The parallel to Bondi is Port Arthur. We are lucky that we have just two mass shootings in 30 years, but that's still two too many.

In the lead up to Port Arthur was gun control a topical issue? I don't remember it being so but I was 11, and there were changes to gun laws in the early 90s. In Australia, gun control typically only makes it into the news if there are changes that upset a lobby group or there is a tragedy. Again we are lucky that outside rural areas guns typically play a small part in society. Living in a cap city it's never been on my radar to own one nor do I think every other person I pass in the street is carrying. In the case of a tragedy like Port Arthur you can make the cases that the perpetrator in his mental state should not have had access to firearms and the type of firearms he had shouldn't be legal full stop, but it was a random attack.

In the lead up to Bondi how many warnings were there about the rise of antisemitism? The NSW premier wants to classify the chant "globalise the intifada" as hate speech. Yeah maybe you should've done that two years ago. When you have crowds of people chanting "**** the Jews" outside the Sydney Opera House, maybe you need to acknowledge how serious the problem is, immediately. Govts at all levels have let this shit fester for two years. Antisemitic sentiments have been normalised more in the last two years than at any point in my lifetime. A lot of people played a part in that. Some loudly, some quietly, some inadvertently.

Darebin Council just did this:

https://www.darebin.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/v/1/about-council/documents/council-meetings/2025/22-december-2025-special/22-december-2025-special-council-meeting-agenda.pdf

Maybe, just maybe, local councils should stick to collecting bins and stay out of global conflicts. They are playing the "Oh we didn't know" card. Really? ****ing really? A lot of weak people hiding behind "Not all Muslims" and "Not all protestors" at the moment. Once again to paraphrase the DV campaign that is running, not all disrespect leads to violence but all violence starts with disrespect. If people really want to go down the "not all" path when why is Albo so concerned about "right wing extremism"? If 99.9% of right wing extremists are law abiding does that make it OK?

At the end of the day antisemitism is just one issue that govts are actually prepared to acknowledge. The Jewish community will be targeted again. There will be more and more frequent Islamic terrorist attacks. But hey farmer Joe in Salmon Gums might be inconvenienced so problem solved.



Do we live in a one party state now?

I agree local councils probably don't need to be getting involved in international affairs.

But to clarify one point, shouting **** the Jews is anti-Semitic, standing up for a group of people that have had 60,000 mostly women and children killed by a far superior army, justified under the suggestion of collective guilt, is not anti-Semitic. It's just ****ing human.

 

[QuietB]

Robodebt was anything but minor, that was a cold calculated move to appease the "dole bludgers are scum, I work hard crowd". It used unlawful debt calculation (yes unlawful), it completely reversed burden of proof (though both Libs and Labor do this with the ATO), it had ** all oversight and no one had accountability for the whole shitfest, the Lib's actually had their own legal team advise against it but still went ahead. ** I could go on.

This (supposed automated) scheme seriously ****ed up a lot of lives, the majority of them vulnerable with no idea on what legal recourse they had (because they couldn't afford it).

Every minister who had so much of an email in concern to Robodebt should be interrogated to the hilt and quite frankly the senior ministers should be in jail.

Pink Batts was bad, this was deadset ****ing criminal preying on the weakest in Australia's society.

Oh and eventually 1.7bill was paid out, that ain't minor (and still not enough)

And no one barely even knows it happened.

Welcome to the Liberal media in Australia

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

I imagine it's there, so they can learn the portfolio and ask thorough questions of the Minister.
And then if they form government next election, would be skilled enough to handle the actual portfolio.

It’s the bureaucrats running the department who advise the minister and are supposed to be apolitical, haha, so they can smoothly adjust to advising a new administration when one is elected. Meanwhile the opposition has to keep abreast of current events, including the ones the government wants to promote or ignore, and decide on their own policies.

Staffers do a lot of the research, for better or worse . Then there are the strategists, who we don’t hear much about until after an election, when we hear how well their tactics worked .

 

[Scotland]

I'm not entirely sure what your point is wrt Port Arthur and gun control, but I do believe that the lapse in gun control over the past few years was one of if not the key reason that this tragedy occured. There had already been several tragic shootings in the lead up to suggest that people on the fringe were ahold of guns and willing to use them. See Dezi Freemen, the Wieambilla shootings, etc. These were also terrorist acts. Experts had warned that our gun laws were getting lax at these moments and little was done.

But my question was about what specifically the government should be doing about anti-semitism. On the topic of the chants outside the opera house.

Both Albanese and Penny Wong condemned that at the time:

Australia’s leaders condemn ‘abhorrent’ scenes after anti-Jewish chants filmed at Sydney rally

Anthony Albanese says images from the rally were ‘horrific’ and featured ‘slogans which are antisemitic and just appalling’

www.theguardian.com

"This article is more than two years old". Those protests also happened right after Israel was attacked. So they were protesting what exactly?

People are obsessed with condemnation. Piers Morgan used to love asking every man and his dog if they condemn October 7. Did it achieve anything?

Did condemning those chants two years ago achieve anything? Were they condemned by the all the white keffiyeh wearers? Notice how the photo in the article is full of Palestinian flags? And it is of people who chanted "Gas the Jews"? Are people seriously going to try and keep a straight face and say there is no link between the two? Some Hezbollah and ISIS flags just happened to pop at stages? Oh well nothing to see here move along.

I would also put to you that the government has actually done several things to combat anti-semitism before this attack such as:

• Expelling the Iranian embassy after it was found Iran had been directing anti-semetic attacks
• Banning Nazi salutes and symbols
• Appointing a Special envoy to combat Antisemitism
• Increasing funding to Holocaust Museums
• Granting $32.5m to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry to enhance security at Jewish community sites

You might think that these measures are not enough, but I would argue that combatting deep-seeded hatreds and attitudes is actually quite difficult and can't be achieved by a single government in a couple of years. It's actually quite hard to control what people think and believe. Especially if you are trying to change their minds.

I do think that those measures are not enough as community sentiment kept growing. You could have stationed 20 armed guards at Bondi last weekend but you shouldn't have to - that's why people are so angry.

There is no need for "Palestinian nationalism" (I'm being very generous in calling it that, the whole movement is at best anti-Israel) in Australia. Yes you can show solidarity and support for any cause or group of people and you can be anti war, but the fact that the one cause/conflict attracts what now feels like 99% of the focus is not healthy or normal. If it was me I would've banned the Palestinian flag two years ago. Ban the Israeli flag too fi you like. There is no pressing need for either other than flying at the respective embassies. The situation needed to be deescalated and wasn't.

On the topic of the Darebin council, I basically agree that councils shouldn't really be dipping their toes into issues like that. Councils are pretty much made up of local busybodies and NIMBY's who outgrew moderating their local neighborhood facebook page. So yes, they will do some dumb things from time to time.

Dumb things? Lordy. There were multiple factions in the Syrian (just across the way from Israel) civil war. I don't recall my local council picking a side and hanging their flag. They also haven't voted on Kurdistan or Catalonia or any other independence movement. Funny that.

That being said I don't really conflate the palestinian flag with anti-semitism in the same way that I believe there is a very clear distinction between jewish people and the government and military of Israel.

A lot of people in that boat in Australia. And now 15 people murdered in Australia. Maybe before people throw themselves headlong into a cause they could spend 5 minutes at the library first. If you (royal) sleep well at night convincing yourself that self labelling as an "antizionist" gives you a clear conscience then good for you.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

I agree local councils probably don't need to be getting involved in international affairs.

But to clarify one point, shouting **** the Jews is anti-Semitic, standing up for a group of people that have had 60,000 mostly women and children killed by a far superior army, justified under the suggestion of collective guilt, is not anti-Semitic. It's just ****ing human.

That’s fine to have personal views but the councils have one job which is to service the ratepayers in their area. Are ratepayers demanding their council grandstand on international affairs? I don’t think so.

 

[PiCkLeJuiCe]

Now Albo has politicised the massacre. Realised his reputation was being damaged so has belatedly apologised to stop the damage to him.

 

[Scotland]

That’s fine to have personal views but the councils have one job which is to service the ratepayers in their area. Are ratepayers demanding their council grandstand on international affairs? I don’t think so.

Apparently it is showing humanity to fly the the flag of a partially recognised state on a local government building on the other side of the world. Ralph Wiggum stuff right there.

I am glad Albo said this though, just a pity about the timing.

"As prime minister, I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened whilst I'm prime minister and I'm sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced," Albanese said in Canberra on Monday.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Now Albo has politicised the massacre. Realised his reputation was being damaged so has belatedly apologised to stop the damage to him.

Why didn’t he apologise before? I’m not keen on apologies btw, unless they are spontaneous. They are rarely accepted or acknowledged. Should he have bowed to pressure or stuck to his principles? It’s awkward now, it looks like expediency.

 

[Scotland]

Now Albo has politicised the massacre. Realised his reputation was being damaged so has belatedly apologised to stop the damage to him.

No only the LNP and former LNP members do that. Because they are political opportunists who don't want unity.

The PM being booed at a vigil is just so incredibly sad. He's not a hated figure like other world leaders who I won't name, but there is so much anger in the community right now.

 

[PiCkLeJuiCe]

No only the LNP and former LNP members do that. Because they are political opportunists who don't want unity.

The PM being booed at a vigil is just so incredibly sad. He's not a hated figure like other world leaders who I won't name, but there is so much anger in the community right now.

No, taking action because of negative opinion is the definition of politicising.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

No only the LNP and former LNP members do that. Because they are political opportunists who don't want unity.

The PM being booed at a vigil is just so incredibly sad. He's not a hated figure like other world leaders who I won't name, but there is so much anger in the community right now.

Not hated, he’s apparently a nice enough person, but people are starting to realise he is not a leader, not up the job, never has been. He’s torn between factions and unions and rivals on the front bench and popularity polls. He’s political first and foremost.

 

[Kram]

Not hated, he’s apparently a nice enough person, but people are starting to realise he is not a leader, not up the job, never has been. He’s torn between factions and unions and rivals on the front bench and popularity polls. He’s political first and foremost.

Problem is the alternative is probably still worse.

 

[JackOutback]

Not hated, he’s apparently a nice enough person, but people are starting to realise he is not a leader, not up the job, never has been. He’s torn between factions and unions and rivals on the front bench and popularity polls. He’s political first and foremost.

I call BS on that. He's quietly gone about his business, winning two elections, burying the Liberals in the process and getting a decent amount done (I'd prefer more but I recognise some would prefer less) without losing the general support. That makes him a pretty savvy leader. But here we have an incident where the papers and the Liberals see a chance to tear him down and are going hammer and tongs but let's see if it makes any headway. I suspect he will have put the Liberals back in their box before the end of January.

 

[schneebly111]

The PM being booed at a vigil is just so incredibly sad. He's not a hated figure like other world leaders who I won't name, but there is so much anger in the community right now.

Even after a drop in support he still leads Ley as preferred PM. There was anger, but it came from the community at Bondi. There was also social media posts from groups the day before talking about whether to boo or turn their back on him at the vigil.

So is it indicative of the overall national mood? I’m not sure, the ones who I’ve seen attack Albo were no fans before.

 

[Scotland]

Even after a drop in support he still leads Ley as preferred PM.

What does that have to do with anything? There's no election around the corner.

There was anger, but it came from the community at Bondi. There was also social media posts from groups the day before talking about whether to boo or turn their back on him at the vigil.

So is it indicative of the overall national mood? I’m not sure, the ones who I’ve seen attack Albo were no fans before.

There is more anger than just the Bondi community. This is the most serious terrorist attack on Australian soil for 3 decades.

 

[QuietB]

Not hated, he’s apparently a nice enough person, but people are starting to realise he is not a leader, not up the job, never has been. He’s torn between factions and unions and rivals on the front bench and popularity polls. He’s political first and foremost.

Good luck with that. The Liberals will continue to chase One Nation around and meanwhile the “quiet Australians” will hand them their arses again at the next election.

 

[Scotland]

Good luck with that. The Liberals will continue to chase One Nation around and meanwhile the “quiet Australians” will hand them their arses again at the next election.

Most Australians just want a govt that actually acts in their interests. The ALP don't. The LNP don't.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Good luck with that. The Liberals will continue to chase One Nation around and meanwhile the “quiet Australians” will hand them their arses again at the next election.

Keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got. The next election is two years away. Surely you don’t need to be reminded that anything can happen. It already has.

 

[Sinjin Smith]

And no one barely even knows it happened.

Welcome to the Liberal media in Australia

It did have a royal commission but it came out with the usual results. " Recommendations about accountability" and "findings" which resulted in jack and shit. So yes in principle I agree with you. It's a shame not one major legal eagle went near it. Sometimes governments (Libs) hold all the cards.

 

[QuietB]

Most Australians just want a govt that actually acts in their interests. The ALP don't. The LNP don't.

That I agree with. Australia blindly follows the UK and USA and there is nothing worth following policy wise in either of those countries.

 

[Bluelegs]

"This article is more than two years old". Those protests also happened right after Israel was attacked. So they were protesting what exactly?

People are obsessed with condemnation. Piers Morgan used to love asking every man and his dog if they condemn October 7. Did it achieve anything?

Did condemning those chants two years ago achieve anything? Were they condemned by the all the white keffiyeh wearers? Notice how the photo in the article is full of Palestinian flags? And it is of people who chanted "Gas the Jews"? Are people seriously going to try and keep a straight face and say there is no link between the two? Some Hezbollah and ISIS flags just happened to pop at stages? Oh well nothing to see here move along.



I do think that those measures are not enough as community sentiment kept growing. You could have stationed 20 armed guards at Bondi last weekend but you shouldn't have to - that's why people are so angry.

There is no need for "Palestinian nationalism" (I'm being very generous in calling it that, the whole movement is at best anti-Israel) in Australia. Yes you can show solidarity and support for any cause or group of people and you can be anti war, but the fact that the one cause/conflict attracts what now feels like 99% of the focus is not healthy or normal. If it was me I would've banned the Palestinian flag two years ago. Ban the Israeli flag too fi you like. There is no pressing need for either other than flying at the respective embassies. The situation needed to be deescalated and wasn't.



Dumb things? Lordy. There were multiple factions in the Syrian (just across the way from Israel) civil war. I don't recall my local council picking a side and hanging their flag. They also haven't voted on Kurdistan or Catalonia or any other independence movement. Funny that.



A lot of people in that boat in Australia. And now 15 people murdered in Australia. Maybe before people throw themselves headlong into a cause they could spend 5 minutes at the library first. If you (royal) sleep well at night convincing yourself that self labelling as an "antizionist" gives you a clear conscience then good for you.

I'll point out that it was you who brought up the Sydney Opera House incident. So not entirely sure what the point of your tangent here is. I agree it achieves little in isolation, but I guess that goes back to my point that dispelling deeply held beliefs is an extraordinarily difficult task.

This post is kind of all over the place so I'll remind you that my original question is 'what specific things can the government do about antisemitism?' I think your answer is that you would bolster hate speech laws and ban the Palestinian flag. Correct me if I'm wrong. Do you think doing those things two years ago would have prevented this attack?

Again, I agree the council really shouldn't be getting involved in global conflicts.

Seems like you have inferred a lot about me because I choose to distinguish jewish people as separate to the israeli government and solidarity with 60,000 dead palestinians as seperate to anti-semitism. I would argue that the lack of distinction on the former is one of the key reasons we are seeing a rise in antisemitism.

 

[Scotland]

That I agree with. Australia blindly follows the UK and USA and there is nothing worth following policy wise in either of those countries.

The US ****ed because they stuck in the giant douche/turd sandwich binary from South Park.

People can scoff at One Nation or whoever the next Clive Palmer Party is but in 4 election cycles AfD in Germany have gone from 1.9 to 20.6% of the vote. PVV in the Netherlands went from 5.9% to 23.5% in 6. PS in Finland were a minor party with 1% of the vote in 1999 to twice being part of a governing coalition in 2015 and 2023. Reform have surged in the UK. Sweden Democrats, Fratelli d'Italia, National Rally... how many examples of right wing populist parties surging in support do you need?

Now Europe is different as they don't have the two party system we do in the Anglosphere and can form real coalitions (as opposed to the Liberals plus the Liberals wearing hats) but the trend is obvious. Did the most progressive societies in the world suddenly become <insert pejorative>? Or did maybe people get sick of decades and decades of government inaction as their countries got progressively shitter?

For some inexplicable reason we refuse to follow any lessons learned in Europe and the UK. It's like we have Brendon McCullum running the country, just stubbornly refusing to listen or change because we know better. I'm pretty confident that in my lifetime we will have a PM from some new populist party that isn't the ALP or LNP. And it concerns me how ****ed the country will be when we get to that point.

 

[QuietB]

It did have a royal commission but it came out with the usual results. " Recommendations about accountability" and "findings" which resulted in jack and shit. So yes in principle I agree with you. It's a shame not one major legal eagle went near it. Sometimes governments (Libs) hold all the cards.

Pink Batts had a royal commission as well. I’d love to know the newscorp word count for each respective royal commission

 

[Juddism]

Now Albo has politicised the massacre. Realised his reputation was being damaged so has belatedly apologised to stop the damage to him.

So, everyone has been demanding he apologise and making it political, then he apologises and he's making it political..he allowed the temperature to cool, didn't react like LNP ****wits and said what needed to be said, when it was needed. Timing is everything and he got it right.

 

[Scotland]

I'll point out that it was you who brought up the Sydney Opera House incident. So not entirely sure what the point of your tangent here is. I agree it achieves little in isolation, but I guess that goes back to my point that dispelling deeply held beliefs is an extraordinarily difficult task.

This post is kind of all over the place so I'll remind you that my original question is 'what specific things can the government do about antisemitism?' I think your answer is that you would bolster hate speech laws and ban the Palestinian flag. Correct me if I'm wrong. Do you think doing those things two years ago would have prevented this attack?

We don't need to 'bolster' any more laws. Just enforce the ones we have. Govt were pretty good at doing that and more during covid.

We had a protest, immediately following a terrorist attack against Jewish civilians in Israel, in front of an Australian landmark, with people waving Palestinian flags yelling "F the Jews". Do I think allowing two years of large scale protests and then recognising a "Palestinian state" amid an ongoing conflict played a role in increasing antisemitism? Absolutely. Do I think not doing those things would have prevented the Bondi attack? No, but that's a hypothetical. Could it have? Possibly. But if you want to go back further than that then without October 7 there is no large scale offensive in Gaza and aren't any protests here so the Jewish community wouldn't be in the news any more than any other year prior to 2023. Would the Bondi attack have still happened? No idea, that's a parallel timeline. Could it have? Definitely. Could the target have been anything other than a Hannukah celebration? Definitely.

Not sure where you are going with this. Either antisemitism has increased or it hasn't. And if it has the govt has either done nothing about it, or has and has had no impact. Either way the govt is introducing further antisemitism measures. Hard to argue that antisemitism isn't a factor when a religious celebration of one of the smaller religions is targeted, but let's say it wasn't. Albo and friends want the narrative to be about antisemitism and gun control because behind door number 2 is an even more uncomfortable conversation. There is no hiding from the fact that the shooting was carried out by a Pakistani (last I checked nowhere near Israel) migrant that we let in and his son who was born and raised here. We need to confront that.

Seems like you have inferred a lot about me because I choose to distinguish jewish people as separate to the israeli government and solidarity with 60,000 dead palestinians as seperate to anti-semitism. I would argue that the lack of distinction on the former is one of the key reasons we are seeing a rise in antisemitism.

You can choose to distinguish however you want. I would argue that people who choose to align themselves with a protest movement have to take the good with the bad. I've also heard enough Jewish/Israeli/Zionist disclaimers and justifications to spot an "I'm not racist but..." when I see one.

Israel's foreign policy is not Australia's to dictate. If Albo feels so strongly about the war in Gaza he could stop all military supply to Israel, and he hasn't.