The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) strongly rejects the assertions made by the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, in the recent priorities report. The Special Envoy has attempted to scapegoat those who do not agree with her own personal and political views, including institutions of intellectual and cultural leadership, such as universities, media, arts organisations and human rights NGOs.
Not only does erroneously targeting the likes of universities, media, arts organisations and human rights NGOs do nothing to address the very real problem of antisemitism, it fundamentally threatens the democratic rights of all Australians. In Australia these groups safeguard or contribute to the protection of our democratic institutions, defend the rule of law, and protect our fundamental freedoms.
Holding governments and public institutions accountable to international human rights standards is not ‘the problem’; calling for state-sanctioned censorship, protest bans, and threatening public interest journalism is.
NSWCCL is alarmed by this report’s recommendations to impose unprecedented oversight and control over public broadcasters like the ABC and SBS, universities, and the arts. Proposals to weaponise federal funding and enforce compliance with ideological speech codes are a dangerous overreach. NSWCCL also notes with concern that the new report continues the Envoy’s fixation on the introduction of further restrictions on our right to protest.
Central to the Envoy’s flawed roadmap is the insistence on implementing the controversial IHRA working definition of antisemitism. This framework has already been decisively rejected by the NSW Supreme Court as “verbose and imprecise", “detached from reality”, and conflates legitimate criticisms of Israel with the abhorrence of actual antisemitism.
Comments attributable to Timothy Roberts, NSWCCL President:
“The Special Envoy’s report is divisive and unhelpful, and she must be held to account for the profound damage on Australia’s social fabric this report represents. If there are no conversations being had by the Prime Minister about replacing her as envoy, there should be.”
“The Special Envoy has not had the policy settings right on her vision for combatting antisemitism from the start, this report only further confirms she also does not have the political leadership or imagination to actually assist Australia in this otherwise worthy goal.”
“True social cohesion is built by strengthening our democratic protections and ensuring that everyone has equal and just rights under the law, not by threatening the funding of cultural and academic institutions that facilitate views Jilian Segal does not agree with.”
“True safety for any community cannot be achieved by eroding civil liberties. NSWCCL calls the Federal Government to reject these over-reaching proposals and focus instead on evidence-based approaches to combatting all forms of racism.”
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