Attacks prompt more protections for places of worship
A spate of attacks and protests at places of worship across the country has prompted Australia’s most populous state to consider new laws to better protect religious freedoms.
Chris Minns
Worshippers at Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue said they were “traumatised” after the building was badly damaged in an alleged anti-Semitic attack in the early hours of Friday.
The incident prompted Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hit out at the Australian government, saying he expected action to prevent future violence.
NSW Premier Chris Minns appeared to be heeding the call, with his Labor government vowing to explore how the state could better protect people’s right to gather at places of worship free from intimidation.
“I am horrified by the attack at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, and the recent sight of protests out the front of a religious institution,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
“Holding the line isn’t enough … we have to go further and ensure that people’s right to religious freedom of expression and worship is protected.”
Mr Minns said NSW would consider reforms to laws regulating protests outside religious institutions and places of worship that aimed to intimidate or prevent people from practising their faith.
“People have the right to feel safe in their own city, in their own churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship,” he said.
“And while everyone has the right to protest peacefully in NSW, the right to peaceful assembly does not permit or excuse the intimidation or vilification of people based on their faith or religion.”
Describing protesting outside places of religious worship as “inflammatory and provocative”, Mr Minns said NSW would aim to balance people’s rights to religious freedoms with the right to protest.
David Ossip, president of The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, told J-Wire: “Places of worship are sacred. They should be places of safety, refuge and comfort and they deserve to be protected.
Last week, attendees at The Great Synagogue were forced into lockdown and implored to hide all visible evidence of being Jewish just to exit the venue safely. This strikes at the heart of societal cohesion and has no place in the multicultural and multi-faith state that we all love.
No matter what faith one practises, they should be able to do so free of harassment, intimidation and physical threat.
We welcome the Government’s announcement which will address the divisive, inflammatory and dangerous conduct we have seen over the past 14 months.”
The attorney general and the Cabinet Office have been asked to look at ways the state can better protect places of worship from protests and provide reform options to the government.
