Interview with Laura Jayes, AM Agenda

11 December 2024

LAURA JAYES: Joining me now is the Shadow Finance Minister, Jane Hume. Jane, thanks so much for your time. Much has been made of the political response to this. Would you make distinct comparisons between Chris Minns and Anthony Albanese on this one?

JANE HUME: I would certainly make a distinction between the response of Chris Minns, the response of Jacinta Allan in Victoria, and also that of Anthony Albanese, who was missing in action over four days from the time that the Israel Synagogue was fire bombed last week. The Jewish community in Victoria and indeed, New South Wales are crying out for leadership that has simply not been shown by Anthony Albanese, whether it be in these latest incidents, whether it be in the car vandalism and firing, firebombing of cars a month ago in Woollahra, there was also the surrounding of a synagogue by protesters, which left worshippers cowering in fear inside a synagogue in Sydney, waiting for those protesters to disperse because they feared for their safety and the universities, in particular, Melbourne University, Sydney University, have seen rampant antisemitism on campus that has caused students to fear for their safety. One couple I spoke to in Elsternwick in Melbourne’s South said to me that they were considering moving to Tel Aviv because they would feel safer in Tel Aviv in Israel, a war torn country, than they would in the suburbs of Melbourne. This is outrageous. Antisemitism has no place in Australia, no place in a multicultural or pluralist society, a tolerant society, and we're looking to our leadership to stamp this out. Unfortunately, Anthony Albanese has been missing in action.

LAURA JAYES: We've just seen some comments from the Israeli Ambassador, Amir Maimon, who just posted on X that he visited the charred remains of the Adass synagogue yesterday. This morning, another despicable attack targeting Jews in Woollahra. This rising tide of Antisemitism must end now. He says he's spoken with Chris Minns, who is committed to fighting Antisemitism and safeguarding the Jewish community in New South Wales. No mention of the Prime Minister there. Now that doesn't mean he hasn't spoken to him, or he's all upset with the Prime Minister's response thus far to what has happened in Woollahra, but what Chris Minns was talking about this morning was not just leadership. He was talking about the need, perhaps for legislative change, if it can't, if it's required when it comes to hate speech, are we at that point?

JANE HUME: Well, certainly, Peter Dutton has led the charge on this last week, he suggested putting together a task force of the AFP, combined with ASIO and other enforcement agencies like Border Force and AUSTRAC. The Prime Minister has finally come to the party that was announced yesterday by the Prime Minister, but we need to make sure that that task force is directed to enforce the laws that we already have, and if those laws are inadequate, then to recommend changes that can be made. The Prime Minister will find himself pushing on an open door with the Coalition. We want to strengthen these laws. We want to make sure that section, provision 501, for instance, of the Migration Act, which is around the character test is strengthened to demonstrate that if there is Antisemitic behavior, if there are Antisemitic actions that are criminal, that these are recognised as criminal activities, that would mean that someone would fail the character test. We want to make sure that the task force can recommend the deportation of visa holders who have participated in Antisemitic behavior or protest action. This is not the country that we, that Australia expects. It's certainly not the type of country that should be tolerated by a peaceful Jewish community that have contributed so much to our society over so many years.

LAURA JAYES: Yeah, tension is certainly right at the forefront at the moment, and you can understand if you live in Jewish enclaves like Woollahra, you live in the eastern suburbs of Sydney or around Melbourne. I mean, you can completely understand that. Penny Wong has also made a speech earlier this week where she talked about the need to follow the rule of law. Later, she said she wasn't drawing a moral equivalence between Israel, China, Russia, but she did say as well in that speech that criticising Israel does not amount to Antisemitism. Is anything wrong with that? That statement I mean?

JANE HUME: We know that Penny Wong and the Albanese Government have been steadily moving away from the bipartisan positions that Australia has always held on Israel. Israel has a right to defend itself and it has a right to exist, which has not been acknowledged by those that want a two state solution that involves a free Palestine. The right to exist must be a fundamental tenant before a two state solution can be achieved. More importantly, there is not a single day that goes by that Penny Wong should not be starting every sentence with ‘when Hamas returns the hostages’, because that must be the number one priority before any consideration of a two state solution could be countenanced.

LAURA JAYES: But is there anything wrong with what you've said in the speech, in all its context?

JANE HUME: Well, essentially equating the actions of Israel, with the actions of Russia and the actions of China, is entirely unacceptable. Israel is defending itself after it was attacked. It was attacked on October 7th and since that time, the Albanese Government has shown, has failed to show leadership. It's failed to go out and defend the Jewish community in Australia, and it's failed to actively defend Israel's right to defend itself. It has chipped away at that moral authority from, since October 7, and that's simply not good enough. No wonder the Jewish community are feeling abandoned by the Albanese government.

LAURA JAYES: All right, let's quickly talk about rates and the RBA. We're going to get the unemployment numbers as well that could feed into this entire story, but basically, we've got some good news yesterday. Rates were on hold for one but also the RBA brought back into play a possibility of a February rate cut.

JANE HUME: Well, this is certainly going to be cold comfort for those families with a mortgage that were hoping for a rate cut before Christmas. There's been 12 rate rises under this government. Interest repayments on mortgages have tripled over that period of time, and many Australian families are really struggling right now with their own budgets to decide what it is that they can and can't afford. Unfortunately, Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese have failed to do the same with their budgets, because they have increased government spending, because they've maintained that urge to spend that all governments have but Labor Governments seem to be unable to control it. That has kept interest rates higher for longer. Inflation stayed higher for longer, and interest rates have stayed higher for longer. In fact, interest rates have come down in about 40 countries around the world, but have failed to come down yet in Australia. The Reserve Bank have said that they're now expecting inflation to come back sustainably, to band, in 2026. That's still a long time away. They've pushed out their forecast of when interest rates, when inflation will come back to ban four times over the life of this government. Let's hope that they get it right this time, because there's a lot of Australians out there that simply can't wait any longer for some relief. They've been looking for that from their government, the government's decisions essentially made the problem worse. Made inflation stay higher for longer, and interest rates higher for longer.

LAURA JAYES: Jane, finally, Paul Fletcher calling time. I didn't see this one coming so close to an election, he's put that seat in play for the Teals potentially?

JANE HUME: I didn't see it coming either, I'm afraid and you know, Paul is a good friend. He's been an extraordinary voice of compassion and conviction in our Parliament. He will be sorely missed. I'm certain that there will be plenty of people lined up to take his spot. I don't, I couldn't name any other than one at the moment, which was our candidate for North Sydney, which was a seat that was abolished. Gisele Kapterian is an extraordinary woman who's got an amazing experience in the tech sector. She's got experience in international affairs, and she's got deep ties in the Armenian community. Obviously, there's a large Armenian community in Bradfield as well, particularly now that North Sydney has been redistributed, and I know that she'll be putting her hand up, and I wish her very well.

LAURA JAYES: Okay, any inkling as to why? Also, it's good to see five women that are lining up to want to be the candidate for Bradfield too.

JANE HUME: Oh, that's very good. I didn't realise there were so many women that we're seeing the same at a State seat here in Victoria, in Prahran, that there are now two women running for that preselection, which is always good news. No, I have no inkling as to why. Sometimes it's just time to call time. But Paul has made such an extraordinary contribution, and he really is a voice of reason and center of sensibilities, and he will be very sorely missed.

LAURA JAYES: Well, we'll have him on the program and later on, so we'll ask him, Jane, thanks so much for your time.

JANE HUME: Thanks very much, Laura.