Foley tells NSWJBD plenum of Labor’s plans to change 20D
The first plenum for The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies for 2018 welcomed NSW Opposition leader Luke Foley and 24 newly-elected deputies under the age of 30.
:ike Foley addressed the plenum
A New Deputies Induction ceremony formally welcomed the new deputies into their roles .
The younger generation will lend their voices on issues and are expected to display a keen interest in the community.
This could mark the beginning of some future leaders of the Jewish community. Many were previously involved with the Australasian Union of Jewish Students or other Jewish youth organisations across NSW.
The Board’s ‘YES’ committee, which stands for ‘Youth Engagement Strategy’, chaired by Natalie Rubinstein, is another initiative and milestone emphasising and encouraging further youth engagement within the Board.
Newly elected deputy, Ben Ezzes, 21, told J-Wire: “I look forward to working with new people on the issues that effect our community the most, particularly in the field of education, which is my great passion. The Board of Deputies has given me opportunity to work at a higher level of an issue that matters to me”, emphasising the doors the Board is opening for young community members.
Liam O’Callaghan, aged 23, read out the Deputies’ prayer and an acknowledgement to the country during the Plenum’s opening remarks.
Luke Foley, MP member for Auburn and Leader of the opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales, addressed the Board.
Foley focused on the issue of the current weakness of section 20D in the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act. The current racial provisions in place has never resulted in a single successful prosecution. Labor views law reform as a priority.
He actively spoke out against hate speech and the promotion of racist violence and his disappointment in December when the state government resolved that they would not legislate to reform the law. Foley, in his speech to the Plenum, emphasised Labor’s plans to criminalise the advocacy or promotion of violence on the basis of race, colour, descent, nationality, ethnicity, religious origin and belief and sexuality.
The Labor leader promised that the Labor party ‘will act in our first 100 days of office’ to criminalise the advocacy of racist violence if elected mentioning Labor’s plans to actualise this criminalisation of the promotion of racist violence by taking the offence out of the Anti-discrimination Act and legislating it into the Criminal Act. By doing so, Labor will be giving additional powers to the police force, enabling them to investigate an alleged offence.
Foley said: “My vision for NSW is for us to be the most harmonious and prosperous and fair society in the world… We have so much going for us. In the end, it’s about decency. If we do share that vision of being the most harmonious as well as the most prosperous and fair place in the world, well, I think we oughta draw the line very clearly and make sure that there is a law that cracks down on what may be a telephone box minority of people who are prepared to advocate or promote violence…”
Foley shared that the draft legislation includes words, sounds, symbols, uniforms, images or writing to be communicated or displayed in public.
The next Plenum will be held on Tuesday, the 20th of March.
Assuming Mr. Foley’s sincerity is not in question, what does he say about the increasing hostility to Israel, in many ways driven by Judeophobia that has been most evident in the more recent federal conferences of his party?