Wednesday, 13 May 2026

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (10:07): Many of us have listened closely to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in recent days and noted the attacks on so many arts and creative sector people, the doxing that has occurred, and the documentation now of what has occurred with so many arts and creative industry sector people. I was particularly struck by the evidence of Deborah Conway. I absolutely reject the attacks on her, noting her record of service to Australian music over so many decades. The royal commission has received that very significant evidence.

One of the things that I think shocked me most was the coordinated attack on Ms Conway led by Alicia Gardiner, a pro-Palestinian activist who appears to be unable to differentiate between her views on Palestine and her antisemitic and anti-Zionist prejudices. Ms Gardiner was prominent in an incident in the Legislative Assembly public gallery here recently, where she appeared to have provocatively and calculatedly launched a personal attack on another visitor. But it is her coordinated attack on Deborah Conway that I think is most disgraceful. It gives the lie to those who say it is just about free speech. These are people who, with malice and hatred, are attacking many of our Jewish creatives, and I say it has to stop.