Thursday, 19 February 2026

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (18:39): (2345) My adjournment matter this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Health. Twelve months ago there was quite a debate around political badges being removed from hospitals – badges that were directed at the Jewish community – and the antisemitism that was being displayed in too many hospitals. I raised it at the time in this place, and at that time the minister said:

Quite frankly, our hospitals are not the place for any political badges, flags or anything that makes patients in any way feel unsafe …

I did question how that political activism was going to be enforced. I am concerned that I have recently spoken to a number of people that have highlighted to me what is occurring at the Northern Hospital. We know that the Prime Minister and the federal government finally did – which is a great thing – announce a royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion. That was announced on 9 January following the horrific Bondi terrorist attacks on 14 December. It has come to my attention what occurred in Northern Hospital just a few days ago. The Australian Zionist Healthcare Alliance is a group that advocates for a safe, inclusive and apolitical environment for everyone using Australia’s healthcare system. They are very supportive of education processes around refugees and understanding our multicultural community and the need to have information and education for people to be informed. But at an event caring for children and families affected by conflict held at Northern Hospital on 12 February 2026 there were a number of representatives from AZHA, and they were concerned with what was raised. They raised this with the CEO to say, ‘Look, we understand you’re having this. Can we raise our concerns with the CEO?’ They did this on 30 January. They were concerned that the session might be focused on geopolitical conflicts rather than on providing practical evidence-based guidance for clinicians caring for refugee families in Australia. They flagged an issue around several of the speakers on the panel who were known to be activists, particularly in relation to the Palestine–Gaza conflict. From that they then followed up to say the discussion did not address the advertised focus, there was a portion of the content that consisted of opinion and there was limited attention given to practical strategies. The action I seek is for the minister to investigate this issue and come back and provide information about the content and how the session was actually applied.