‘Day late and a dollar short’: Coalition slams anti-Semitism taskforce

The Albanese government’s anti-Semitism taskforce is “a day late and a dollar short”, opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson has said.

Anthony Albanese announced the AFP-led operation on Monday following the firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne last week.

The announcement poured cold water on the Coalition’s own election pledge earlier on Monday to set up a similar taskforce.

But Senator Paterson said on Tuesday the government’s option did not go far enough and that Australia’s “Jewish community feel like they have been ignored”.

“It’s a day late and a dollar short. It’s not a taskforce, it’s a specific operation,” he told the ABC.

“It sounds like a subtle distinction but it’s an important one. A special operation is a routine thing. They set it up to investigate a particular crime.

“What we have asked for is a standing taskforce that brings together not just the Federal Police and ASIO, but all other arms of law enforcement, security and intelligence at the federal level.”

Senator Paterson also said the Albanese government has not shown enough “moral clarity in calling out this cancer of anti-Semitism”.

“We’re a great country but we haven’t been at our best and we have tolerated too much of this,” he said.

“People have been wantonly breaching the law almost every weekend, when they are displaying flags of listed terrorist organisations, that’s a crime yet no-one has been convicted of that.

“Police and the federal government have been too slow to address that.”

Mr Albanese announced Special Operation Avalite for anti-Semitism alongside AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw and ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess.

Mr Burgess, who rarely makes media appearances, repeated warnings he issued earlier in the year to cool down the language in political discourse.

“Australia’s security environment is volatile and unpredictable. Anti-authority beliefs continue to grow,” the domestic intelligence chief said.

“Grievances are spreading. Provocative, inflammatory language are being normalised. And let me close by repeating what I said after the 7 October Hamas terrorist attack: inflamed language leads to inflamed tension and can lead to violence.

“So, we all need to watch our words.”

But Senator Paterson dismissed the warning when asked if it was time to show some unity.

“We need to be measured and calm in our language, but it’s also the job of the opposition to hold a government to account for what they see as failings,” he said.

Authorities confirmed on Monday they were treating the attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue last Friday as a terrorist incident.

It is the latest high profile event in a torrent of anti-Semitic incidents in Australia since Hamas’ brutal October 7 terrorist attack in Israel.