Pressure on PM to recall parliament to combat hate

As a task force meets for the first time to tackle anti-Semitism on university campuses, the opposition is calling for an urgent recall of parliament.

The opposition is ramping up pressure on the prime minister to recall parliament before Christmas to pass legislation to combat antisemitism and bolster counter-terrorism laws.

Anthony Albanese announced a five-point plan to crack down on anti-Semitism on Thursday after two Islamic State-inspired gunmen killed 15 people and injured dozens more when they targeted Hanukkah revellers on Sunday.

The plan will increase penalties for hate speech promoting violence.

Describing Labor’s response to anti-Semitism as “too little, too late”, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley repeated her call for the deportation of non-citizens who preach “radical Islam”.

“I am calling for the parliament to be recalled urgently,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program on Friday.

“My message is if you preach hatred, if you preach radical Islam in a way that hurts or harms your fellow man or woman, if you incite, if you glorify terrorism, if you are not an Australian citizen you will be deported.”

Health Minister Mark Butler said the prime minister was “very much open” to recalling parliament to pass the “complex” laws as quickly as possible.

“We want the laws to work because, obviously, the lawyers advising these organisations have ensured that the preachers are able to get right to the legal limits of speech circumscribed by the laws that exist today,” he told ABC TV.

The government also announced a $42.6 million package for extra mental health support for those traumatised by the Bondi attack.

The funding was targeted at providing support for Jewish Australians, as well as providing more money for crisis support lines that have been overrun since Sunday.

Jewish groups have also welcomed Labor’s announcement to establish an anti-Semitism education task force that will examine how the education system can prevent the issue taking root.

It will be led by David Gonski, a prominent businessman and member of the Jewish community who conducted a landmark review of school funding.

The move forms part of the government’s response to a plan by anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal, whose recommendations included defunding universities and cultural institutions that failed to stop the spread of anti-Jewish hate.

Labor had not formally responded to the report since it was published in July.

The policy announcements were welcomed by the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein.

But he said the government needed to do more to push back against the “obsessive hatred of Israel and Zionists that emanate from progressive and Islamist spaces”.

The government has been reluctant to endorse Ms Segal’s more controversial proposals, including her call to strip funding from universities that were found to have failed to provide a safe space for Jewish students.

The universities watchdog already has powers to deregister institutions, but that action is seen as being too severe to be useful.

Strengthening penalties could be one option the task force considers at its first meeting on Friday.

By: Jacob Shteyman and Grace Crivellaro/AAP