Thursday, 18 June 2026

 Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (10:27): Last night I was very pleased in Melbourne to attend the 78th Israel independence celebration. We joined the leadership of the Jewish community. It was in the presence of the Ambassador of Israel Dr Hillel Newman. It was also in the presence of the Premier of Victoria and the Leader of the Opposition Jess Wilson. I want to congratulate Jess Wilson on her absolutely outstanding speech, which was incredibly well received by everybody present. But I do comment on and am very concerned about a comment that the Premier made:

[QUOTE AWAITING VERIFICATION]

I do believe that young Australians are in danger of permanently judging the nation of Israel and the people of Israel by the actions of its government.

Israel is the Jewish homeland. The Premier’s statement was ignorant. It reflected on Jews and was borderline antisemitic, but it also totally begged the question about her own leadership. If you want to judge another country by its leadership, I am sure the people of Victoria are working very hard to judge this government by the leadership that Jacinta Allan is currently portraying. Of course they will have their say on 28 November, but I do say it was most disappointing to hear what the Premier said about Israel last night.