Tributes to Jeremy Jones AM in the NSW Parliament

September 14, 2023 by J-Wire Newsdesk
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A pillar of the Australian Jewish community Jeremy Jones passed away last week at the age of 64 following a futile battle with cancer.

Jeremy Jones AM

A motion to recognise his work was passed in the NSW Parliament yesterday.

The motion was moved by Susan Carter, a Liberal member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.

She said: “Last Wednesday, a week ago today, Jeremy Jones died—a significant loss for his family, his community, his country and the world. He was an intellectual in the best sense of that word and was an articulate defender of respect and justice for all. Jeremy had an international reputation as a considered and articulate opponent of racism and antisemitism in all its forms. His voice was constantly raised, throughout the entirety of his life, in defence and in support of those who were discriminated against, overlooked or disregarded, not for anything they had done but just because of who they were. He was that rare combination of a great mind and a great heart, and he put all of his gifts at the service of those who needed them.

Jeremy was raised in a Jewish family, and this faith and community remained an important part of his life. As a schoolboy, he faced the difficult issue that the competition for the debating he loved was on a Friday night, the Jewish Sabbath, which he wanted to observe. Jeremy’s solution was to start his own debating competition so that he could do both. He was always a problem-solver. Jeremy was also a committed Australian and was deeply committed to the recognition of Aboriginal peoples and to closing the gap. When he travelled the world, as he often did, he was always to be seen in his matching kippah and tie featuring Indigenous patterns—a fashion choice some of us doubted, but we could never question his sincerity. Jeremy became a leader in the Jewish community, both nationally and internationally. He served in a number of capacities but was best known as the director of international and community affairs at the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, and he was a life member and former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

Jeremy Jones was that rarest and best of leaders. He led not just by position but also by example. He was a genuinely good man who showed us by his professional life and also by his personal life how we can all live best together, with understanding and respect. He was a leader in interfaith dialogue because he understood the importance and the power of faith, and he lived his faith daily. Jeremy saw interfaith dialogue as an important key to achieving true, long-lasting community harmony. He was the first Australian to serve on the board of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations and was the chair of Interfaith Dialogues. His work in promoting interfaith dialogue and community harmony was recognised by the award of the Australian Human Rights Medal in 2007 and the Stepan Kerkyasharian, AO, Community Harmony Medal in 2016. Jeremy’s contribution was further recognised when he was made a member of the Order of Australia.

Jeremy was a serious man who thought deeply about serious issues and loved to inform himself about political theory and the events of the day. But he did not live only for the life of the mind. He truly valued all those people he was with, and he was able to connect with them personally, possessing that rare skill of being able to communicate his ideas widely and well to a range of different audiences. This made him an effective campaigner against racism. I had the privilege to meet Jeremy Jones at university, where we were both involved in student politics, usually on different sides but occasionally on a unity ticket. I have been fortunate to be able to call him a friend ever since. As fellow members of the “number every square below the line” league, the joy of every election campaign was lunch with Jeremy when we knew we would be numbering the first squares differently but would tease out exactly who should be awarded those important last five votes and why.

Conversation with Jeremy was often challenging but always joyful. Jeremy leaves behind a lasting contribution to public life but also his widow, Naomi, and his children, Gidon and Galit. May his faith be a consolation to them and to all who will mourn him.

Penny Sharpe is the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council, Minister for Climate Change, Minister for Energy, Minister for the Environment, and Minister for Heritage told the House: “I was sad to hear of the passing of Jeremy Jones. He is not a man I knew well, but I knew him well enough to have been touched in a range of different ways as we interacted over many years during my political life. In his interfaith work around community harmony, he was always a faithful servant to the Jewish community but also a faithful servant to the people of New South Wales.

He was genuinely interested in the people he met, the thoughts they had and how they could contribute with him to making New South Wales a better place for all of us to live. He was a strong fighter against racism and particularly antisemitism. He was generous with his time and, as I said, was always curious about others. He was committed to young people. The work he did for many years with various young people—bringing them in, talking about their faith, sharing their ideas and understanding the very basic human truth that really we are all just the same—he did in a kind and funny way, and he managed to win friends wherever he went. Vale, Jeremy Jones.”

Liberal member of the New South Wales Legislative Council  Natalie Ward said: “Jeremy dedicated his whole life to the Jewish community, promoting interfaith dialogue and fighting against antisemitism and racism. Jeremy was a leader in the community since his time at university, where he held roles on the Sydney University and national executive of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students. His work continued for decades. He acted as director of international and community affairs at the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, and as president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, where he was also recognised as a life member. Jeremy fought strongly against antisemitism, notably in long-running litigation he pursued in the Federal Court on behalf of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry against notorious antisemites and Holocaust deniers.

He was the first Australian to serve on the board of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, where he worked on establishing dialogues between different faiths. It is striking and important that Nur Munir of the Nahdlatul Ulama, one of the world’s largest Muslim organisations by membership, paid tribute to Jeremy for his work on interfaith dialogue. That is so important in our community. His interfaith work is critical in our harmonious, multicultural community. I am glad that his extensive work was recognised during his lifetime. We often recognise such things only after the fact.

He was the recipient of the Australian Human Rights Medal, the Stepan Kerkyasharian, AO, Medal for Community Harmony and was made a Member of the Order of Australia. Jeremy Jones received tributes from across the Australian community. Themes about his warmth, his eagerness to teach and mentor—critically important to the next generation—and his ability to put greater causes above his own personal needs were common throughout.

I am so pleased to be able to stand in support of the condolence motion. As co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Israel and former chair, I extend my deep and sincere gratitude and condolences to his wife, Naomi, children Gidon and Galit, and members of the wider Jones family for their loss. People of Australia and New South Wales mourn the loss of someone who was a thought leader, who exercised great work and who took great strides towards peace in our harmonious multicultural community we live so well within. May his memory be a blessing.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey commented: “As Director of International and Community Affairs at the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council [AIJAC], Jeremy was a leading light of the Australian-Jewish community and a driving force for tolerance and multiculturalism. The outpouring of sorrow following Jeremy’s untimely passing has been overwhelming. From Federal and State parliaments, to leaders around the world, tributes have poured. I echo those sentiments today.

Jeremy was one of a kind. His contributions were incredibly wideranging and too many in number to begin to do justice to in my limited time. However, to give the House some sense of his influence, he was the founder of the first Jewish and Christian dialogue group in Sydney, he was one of the group of experts that helped formulate the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, he was the plaintiff in two key court cases establishing that antisemitism was covered by the Federal Racial Discrimination Act and that Holocaust denial violated that legislation.

Expressing their utter devastation at Jeremy’s loss in their tribute to him, AIJAC chairman Mark Leibler and executive director Colin Rubenstein called Jeremy “a one-man rolodex and intelligence agency, who knew almost every person of importance in Australian politics, religious communities, the media and other areas of public life and was almost universally liked and respected”. Beyond his role at AIJAC, Jeremy served as vice president, and later president, at the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. He was at the forefront of the battle to expose and combat antisemitism, racial hatred and bigotry. He was notably a genuine supporter of Indigenous Australians. He was also a member of the Australian Labor Party as a young man, was instrumental in setting up the New South Wales Labor Friends of Israel, and was active on the foreign affairs, immigration and multicultural ALP committees too.

Jeremy played a unique role in Australia-Asia and Australia-Israel relations. His work on the Jewish‑Muslim dialogue opened doors to meaningful engagement in Indonesia. I recognise too Jeremy’s unwavering commitment to confronting the biased treatment of Israel within international bodies. As a member of the Australian Government United Nations delegation, he was at that particularly interesting Durban conference, and has stood against such behaviour ever since. The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies president, David Ossip, called Jeremy a “mensch par excellence” and so he was. In his words of condolence on behalf of the New South Wales Government, Premier Minns said, “His efforts have had a tangible and lasting impact on community cohesion in New South Wales, Australia, and globally. Jeremy leaves behind a loving family and a tremendous legacy, and he will be missed by us all.”

Labor Member of NSW Legislative Council Dr Sarah Kaine commented: “I acknowledge the work of Jeremy Jones, particularly his work in promoting interfaith and intercommunal harmony. I express my condolences to his family on his passing. In this place we have a mandate to act in the best interests of the residents of our State, which requires us to reflect on the views and needs of a diverse population and to do so in a way that is respectful and encourages social cohesion and intercommunal harmony. Jeremy Jones’s work embodied that mandate in his commitment to building bridges between communities and religious groups. His commitment was clear. He was recognised with the Australian Human Rights Medal 2007 and a harmony award in 2016, both in recognition of his work promoting multicultural interfaith dialogue. The statement regarding the award of the Australian Human Rights Medal read:

Mr Jones was an advocate who dedicated his life to promoting freedom from racial discrimination, persecution, harassment and freedom of religion. [He] has tirelessly undertaken voluntary work within Indigenous, Jewish and Muslim communities as well as other minority groups … his cross-faith work had been integral in building bridges between communities and minority groups throughout his career.

In recognising his contributions in Federal Parliament last week, Senator Deb O’Neil paid tribute to Jones’s deep commitment to defending the inalienable rights of all people, which saw him encourage and establish dialogue among individuals and groups of different faiths. While I did not know Mr Jones personally, his legacy goes beyond those he had personally met. What I take as a lesson from his life is commitment to antiracism, Indigenous reconciliation, interfaith dialogue, multifaith collaboration and promotion of a kinder, more caring Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and the world. That is something that many of us would do well to imitate.

Liberal Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council Scott Farlow said: I have the great fortune of knowing Jeremy Jones since I started working as a staffer for Peter Debnam in Vaucluse in 2005. Jeremy came from the other side of the political divide but he was a warm to person to anyone, whatever their politics, sexuality or racial background, and I always respected him for that. Jeremy lived a life of inclusion and was somebody known throughout broader society, not just the Jewish community, as somebody who brought people together. He was a true humanitarian. I am glad the Hon. Daniel Mookhey reflected on his commitment to Indigenous Australia. I will always remember Jeremy in his Indigenous kippah. That was the symbol of Jeremy in many ways. It was not at Jewish functions I would see Jeremy most often, but other cultural events. The Indian Independence Day function was one such event. I was thinking that I had not seen Jeremy there this year, and it was quite sad because I always enjoyed Jeremy’s company.

Jeremy was a great advocate for the Jewish people, for Israel and for the whole Jewish community in his role at his roles at the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council [AIJAC] and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. As a former chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Israel, I appreciate what Jeremy did to better inform parliamentarians in New South Wales about Israel and Jewish affairs, but also about antisemitism, which really did touch Jeremy. We had lots of conversations about the evolving role of antisemitism in our society. I know he was very happy to see the Nazi symbols bill pass this place in last year. In our last conversation, we reflected on that and how it was something the Parliament could own and show throughout the world.

One thing that Jeremy would see as his legacy is being able to bring the Jewish community to all other communities throughout New South Wales. I see through the outpouring of grief that has occurred since Jeremy’s passing that other communities New South Wales felt the same way about Jeremy, in particular the Muslim community where there were many challenges over many years. Jeremy always sought to bridge that divide. I send my condolences to his family, to all of the team at AIJAC who are mourning his loss, including our former colleague in this place Walt Secord and to the broader Jewish community. Vale Jeremy Jones.”

Comments

One Response to “Tributes to Jeremy Jones AM in the NSW Parliament”
  1. John McCormick says:

    My condolences to Jeremy’s family.
    John McCormick
    Chairman Hawkes Bay Friends of Israel
    Waipukurau
    New Zealand
    [email protected]

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