Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Ministers statements: community safety

Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:08): I rise to address the concerning acts of division and hate in our community in recent days. I have said it many times in this place, but let me say it again: there is no place for extremism or antisemitism in Victoria. People have a right to protest in any democracy, but no-one has a right to spread hate or cause hurt. As I have made clear, we are a government that stands firmly against racism.

Members interjecting.

The PRESIDENT: Sorry, Minister, can you just take your seat for a minute. Ms Watt, I will let you call your point of order, because I reckon I am going to be agreeing with you.

Sheena Watt: On a point of order, President, I actually am deeply interested in hearing the remarks from the minister in this ministers statement, and I ask that that be afforded to all members of this chamber.

The PRESIDENT: I uphold the point of order. I want the clock reset to 2 minutes. I ask, Minister, if you could start from the start, and any interruptions – well, we can do this all day.

Ingrid STITT: I rise to address the concerning acts of division and hate in our community in recent days. I have said it many times in this place, but let me say it again: there is no place for extremism or antisemitism in Victoria. People have a right to protest in any democracy, but no-one has a right to spread hate or cause hurt, and I have made that clear. We are a government that stands firmly against racism and hatred, and we continue to demonstrate this not just with words but with action. Last month, following the disgraceful attacks on the Jewish community, the Premier established the Anti-Hate Taskforce, a whole-of-government leadership to reduce acts of racism and hate. I have released Victoria’s first ever anti-racism strategy, which commits our government to work alongside multicultural communities to stamp out racism in Victoria. I was proud to stand with the Premier and announce the Victorian multicultural review, led by the esteemed George Lekakis AO, to assess how Victoria’s multicultural systems can be better set up to resolve conflict.

I am proud to be part of a government that delivered tough anti-vilification and social cohesion laws. We have provided over $5 million to initiatives to directly combat antisemitism and improve safety for our Jewish community, and we are also in the process of developing a new guide to combat Islamophobia. Alongside recent increases in antisemitism, we have also seen a rise in anti-Muslim hate. Last week I visited Boronia with the member for Bayswater, and we stood side by side with the Hindu community, who woke up to the hateful, racist vandalism of their temple. Hate has no place in Victoria, and I am fully focused on delivering strong action to stamp it out. I will continue to work every day for multicultural communities so they feel safe and valued, no matter who they are and no matter where they live.