Wednesday, 15 May 2024

 David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (17:09): (661) It gives me no joy to raise this matter to the Premier today. We have seen antisemitism at a record high since the events of 7 October, and it is ground zero on our university campuses at the moment. The action that I seek is for the Premier to intervene and shut down these encampments. We have seen students have to put up with far too much. Right as we speak we have hundreds of protesters and extreme activists locking themselves in at Melbourne University campus to say, ‘No-one is in, this is our campus.’ The same has happened on our streets in Melbourne. The same happens outside the front of Parliament. I believe tonight hundreds of these extremists, these anti-Jewish protesters, are outside the steps of Parliament doing exactly the same – saying that they own the streets. They do not own the streets. They do not own our university campuses. They do not own the front steps of Parliament. The people of Victoria own this place, and we should not be pushed out. We should not be in a position where we are walking around in fear.

Enough is absolutely enough. These encampments must be broken up. We had the Chief Commissioner of Police on ABC radio only a few days ago saying the earlier we shut down these encampments, the safer it will be for everybody. The longer it goes, the more it grows, and everybody is fearful of this getting completely out of hand. I note that at ANU and at Deakin University both of those encampments have been shut down, and I credit the vice-chancellors at both universities for taking action. But many of these universities do not know what to do. They are waiting for leadership. They are ultimately waiting for the direction to come in and break up these encampments. It is ground zero for these universities. Free speech should be something that we all embrace, but not hate speech. Hate speech crosses the line, and these students should be able to go to university campuses and not have to do their studies online and have to deal with people doing the Heil Hitler salute – these extremist activists.

Only a few days ago at Monash University, when we had a remembrance service for fallen soldiers, just like on Anzac Day, we had extremists on the university campus. The only way for the Jewish community to attend that event was having the protection of hundreds of Victorian police, who were there to keep us safe. No-one, absolutely no-one, should have to deal with this. Enough is enough. We need to break this up. We need to start to embrace tolerance and respect for all – for everybody – including the Jewish community, who has had enough. We are fed up with this, and enough is absolutely enough.