Anthony Albanese has pledged action on antisemitic attacks – but his decision to call a snap national cabinet meeting less than a day after rebuffing that suggestion has left him once again looking like he’s playing catchup.
The prime minister condemned an arson and graffiti attack on a childcare centre in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra this week as a hate crime and “vile, antisemitic violence”. Scheduled to hold a press conference in western Sydney on Tuesday morning, he rerouted to the city’s east instead, visiting the site of the attack and then holding a press conference with the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns.
It appeared Albanese had learned from the serious arson attack at a Melbourne synagogue in December, when he was panned for continuing a scheduled electioneering trip to Perth rather than visiting the site. His critics further savaged him for being spotted playing tennis during a break in the trip, before attending the Ripponlea crime scene three days later.
In the wake of the attack, Albanese set up a federal police taskforce, Operation Avalite, to investigate antisemitic attacks and the targeting of politicians’ offices. Albanese said it had made its first arrests last week.
A brief reprieve over Christmas was extinguished by further attacks on synagogues in Sydney, with the federal government facing growing calls from the Coalition, Jewish groups and the antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, for more action via a national cabinet meeting.
As has been the case in several recent political crises – see the response to the high court decision on immigration detainees, when Labor’s response echoed what the Coalition had earlier demanded – Albanese spent a long period rebuffing suggestions from the opposition. He endured growing media questioning and critical coverage over a lack of action, before finally folding and doing what critics had originally demanded.
Indeed, barely 24 hours before confirming a Tuesday national cabinet meeting, when asked at a press conference if he would convene the state and territory leaders to discuss antisemitism, Albanese answered: “What people want to see isn’t more meetings, they want to see more action.”
That a childcare centre – “places of joy and discovery for children”, as Albanese described them – was the target of the latest arson attack, seems to have tipped Albanese’s hand on whether such a meeting was necessary.
The Coalition has a clear strategy of painting the government as weak, indecisive, and inexperienced, compared to Dutton’s desire to be seen as decisive, resolute and ready to act – perceptions spurred on by helpful torchbearers in conservative media. Dutton likes to take credit for government decisions, or bullying Albanese into action, painting himself as a strongman for troubled times.
We’re still months from an election, but polling shows Dutton’s approach may be bearing fruit. A Freshwater poll this week, published by the Australian Financial Review, found crime and social order was the fifth-highest priority issue for voters, behind only economic and health concerns. The Guardian Essential poll this week found voters were becoming more optimistic about the country being on the right track, but even after a 12-point turnaround on that metric, more people thought the country remained on the wrong track.
Albanese and Dutton were neck-and-neck on their net approval ratings, Australians equally approving and disapproving of both men.
Of course, despite taking the course demanded by the Coalition, Albanese will receive little credit from opponents. Once again he has been criticised first for a lack of action, and then for taking too long to act after he moves. Moments after reports of a snap national cabinet meeting emerged, the deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, slammed him for “mealy-mouthed words”.
“Finally the PM heeds our call to convene NatCab,” she tweeted.
Several Labor MPs who are close to the Jewish community defended the prime minister’s response, and accused the Coalition of attempting to politicise the antisemitic attacks.
“I think the prime minister has been as proactive as he can be and I’m surprised at the criticism,” one Labor politician, who requested anonymity, said.
The MP said the level of antisemitism in the community was the worst it has been in their lifetime and was distressed it had been turned into a political fight.
While acknowledging the seriousness of major violent and destructive attacks on buildings or cars, some in the halls of Parliament House have whispered that loud coverage of every single allegation of antisemitic abuse – from a vile message or symbol scrawled in text on a train station wall – was not helping the crisis. They suggest that elevating less violent incidents to national attention may be encouraging copycats or attention-seekers.
Some in government have rightly noted the primacy of state police agencies and premiers to respond to crime issues, as well as Albanese’s actions to set up the overarching Operation Avalite, described by the AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, in December as “a flying squad to deploy nationally to incidents” to bolster local investigations.
But the dangerous events of recent weeks have created a public safety – and political – tinderbox, with Albanese’s response arguably found wanting.
Since the 9 December announcement of Avalite, cars were set alight and anti-Israel graffiti sprayed in Woollahra; synagogues were vandalised with swastikas in Allawah and Newtown; and the former home of Jewish community leader Alex Ryvchin was splashed in red paint, with cars set alight and antisemitic graffiti outside.
Albanese’s rhetoric and condemnation has further sharpened. But Segal began calling for him to convene national cabinet more than a week ago, before the targeting of Rvychin’s former home, and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry had urged such a meeting in early December.
Albanese responded to Segal’s call by meeting with the NSW and Victorian premiers, short of a full national cabinet meeting, but with little concrete outcomes reported beyond a statement saying the three governments “agreed to continue working relentlessly together” and an offer from the commonwealth “to assist with whatever they require”.
Albanese said Segal had been pleased with the meeting outcomes, but did not at the time voice support for a national cabinet meeting – an outcome the Coalition had been increasingly loudly demanding in recent days.
The opposition on Monday committed to holding a national cabinet meeting, if elected, soon after coming to office and pledged mandatory minimum jail terms for antisemitic crimes.
Albanese responded to the announcement by saying: “Well, Peter Dutton, of course, will continue to do what Peter Dutton does.”
But with Dutton again setting the national agenda, and Albanese once more belatedly following the path demanded by the opposition leader days before, the prime minister has again left the perception that the federal government isn’t moving fast enough.
Article by:Source: Josh Butler
