Sally Sara: The Prime Minister has announced the appointment of a new anti-Semitism envoy in Australia. Anthony Albanese says it's in response to an increase in attacks against Jewish people. Sydney lawyer and business executive Jillian Segal will take up the role. Political reporter Nicole Hegarty has been following the announcement and joined me a short time ago. Nicole, good afternoon. What has the Prime Minister announced?
Nicole Hegarty: Good afternoon, Sally. So we've heard from the Prime Minister. He's announced a new anti-Semitism envoy and the person to fill that role is Jillian Segal. She's a business person and a lawyer based in Sydney, well respected within the Jewish community and more broadly. So she's the one that's been picked to fill this new role which has been created in light of a dramatic rise in anti-Semitism following the start of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7 last year.
Sally Sara: Well, let's have a listen to what the Prime Minister has had to say.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese: Australia can be a microcosm for the world. In my community in Marrickville, you have people of Jewish, Islamic, Greek, Orthodox, Hindus, Buddhists, all living side by side, enriched by our diversity, benefiting from the culture, the language, the food, the dancing, the music, the celebration of what we have built here in Australia. What's clear is that we can't take that for granted. What's clear is that we continue to reinforce the need for social harmony and that's what today's announcement of Jillian is all about.
Sally Sara: That's the Prime Minister there. What do we know, Nicole, about how this role will actually work?
Nicole Hegarty: Well, we're yet to see the full details. Jillian Segal saying that she'll need to take up the position first to see exactly how this will operate in practice. But the theory is here that there will need to be a greater focus on education as well so people learn what is and isn't okay and the impact of some of their statements, particularly on the Jewish community. She says that a lot of this anti-Semitism spreads or stems from false and misleading comments that really damage the fabric of the community. That damage is exacerbated, particularly given the significant suffering that the Jewish population has suffered through globally.
Sally Sara: Well, let's have a listen to what Jillian Segal had to say.
Jillian Segal: Anti-Semitism erodes all that is good and healthy in a society. As such, it poses a threat not just to the Jewish community, but to our entire nation. Anti-Semitism is an age old hatred. It has the capacity to lie dormant through good times. And then in times of crisis, like pandemic, which we've experienced, economic downturn, war, it awakens. It triggers the very worst instincts in an individual to fear, to blame others for life's misfortunes and to hate. And it is often based on misinformation, on inaccurate rumour. And it can spread from individual to individual to contaminate the collective, damaging life for the entire community and leading to violence, as we have seen.
Sally Sara: That's Jillian Segal there, who's been appointed as the new anti-Semitism envoy in Australia. Nicole, how does this political picture fit together? Of course, we had the news last week that Senator Fatima Payman was stepping away from the Labor Party to become an independent. There have been a lot of concerns raised from communities supporting the Palestinian people and pointing to the death toll of Palestinians under the Israeli military campaign. How does this all fit together politically?
Nicole Hegarty: Well, that's right. The Prime Minister in particular was quick to say that they are going to announce a similar role focusing on cracking down on Islamophobia as well. So that was an inevitable question when they announced this role. Would there be something similar to address the concerns of that community as well? It does fit into a bigger picture about the government trying to strike that correct balance between not leaning too far towards supporting one group over the other as these tensions continue to flare. The government saying that they are taking a measured response and continuing to call out any actions which result in death or injury to innocent lives in the Middle East.
Sally Sara: That's Nicole Hegarty there, one of our reporters at Canberra Parliament House.
