Thursday, 31 July 2025

 Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:51): I rise on my members statement. I put aside what I was planning to say. These are clearly difficult times for social cohesion. These are times when the robustness of our multicultural community and the seams of it are put under deep, deep stress. In my electorate there is the seat of Box Hill, and the member there is Mr Paul Hamer, a man of Jewish extraction. I deeply disagree with Mr Hamer about many things in that seat – about the Box Hill brickworks and about the Suburban Rail Loop activity centre. I will contest him very, very harshly when the election comes on the matter of how that electorate is represented. But things have come to my attention that Mr Hamer has had to experience over the past months as the Gazan and Palestinian and Israeli issues unfold. Where I stand absolutely side by side with Mr Hamer is as an Australian. I absolutely abhor the matters that he has had to experience and that everyone else in the Jewish community has had to experience. I will not abide by it, and I will not stand silent as these things happen. I give my support to Mr Paul Hamer.