KEY POINTS:
- Anthony Albanese says Hamas’ attack on Israel has "chilled every Australian heart".
- He acknowledged Israel's right to respond, but joined calls for it to follow the international rules of war.
- Peter Dutton says the Coalition "proudly supports" Israel's right to "do what is necessary".
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Hamas’ attack on Israel has "chilled every Australian heart", declaring the group an enemy of Jewish people and "all peace-loving Palestinians", who are also "paying a devastating price for this terrorism".
Addressing parliament on Monday, Albanese stressed there was no room for religious bigotry in Australia — including antisemitism and Islamophobia — and joined international calls for Israel to follow during its retaliation for the attack.
Coalition leader Peter Dutton said there "must be no restraint shown to those who have shown no restraint themselves", as human rights groups sound the alarm over.
Following ASIO boss Mike Burgess' warning that in Australia, the prime minister announced his government would add $10 million to a package designed to improve security at places of worship and religious schools.
Australians 'profoundly shocked' by attack, says PM
Albanese offered his sympathy to the people of Israel and Australia’s Jewish community, saying that, while no one could "lighten the weight that is upon you ... Australians embrace you in this time of trauma".
The prime minister said all Australians had been "profoundly shocked by the scale and wantonness" of the assault, describing it as an "an attack on Jewish people" across the globe.
"This was no act of war against the army of an enemy. It was a slaughter of innocent people. It was an act of terror: calculated, pitiless brutality, compounded by a range of rockets designed to kill and to terrify without mercy," he said.
"[Hamas] wanted the world to see they rejoiced in suffering and death. It is so difficult to contemplate, so confronting. But we cannot turn away from the truth. We must call these atrocities for what they are. We must condemn them together."
This month's attack caused the largest loss of Jewish lives in a single day since the Holocaust, and Albanese said it was shocking that Jewish people were again "having to draw on their courage and resilience".
More than 1,500 Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli strikes since it began bombarding the densely populated Gaza Strip last week. Israel cut off water and electricity in Gaza and is expected to launch a ground invasion, giving over a million civilians 24 hours to leave the region.
The United Nations has warned against collective punishment of the Palestinian people and said on Monday that Gaza hospitals struggling to cope with the devastation now have less than a day's worth of fuel.
Anthony Albanese says Hamas has brought suffering to civilians in both Israel and Gaza. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
He said Hamas was "no better than any other group in history that has clung to the twisted belief that victory can be built on the blood of the innocent".
"[It] is an enemy of all peace-loving Palestinian people, who are left to pay a devastating price for this terrorism ... The Palestinian people are suffering greatly, and this suffering has impacted on generations of Palestinians," Albanese said.
"There is no question that Israel has the right to defend itself against a terrorist organisation, and to take strong action against it. But we join the call from (US) President Biden and other partners for Israel to operate by the rules of war."
No room for any form of religious bigotry: PM
Labor will provide an additional $10 million to a package designed to improve security at places of worship and religious schools, amid fears the conflict could stoke religious tensions in Australia.
The prime minister also noted Labor is pushing a bill to , which he said would outlaw the glorification and praise of terrorism.
Albanese said there was "no room" for antisemitism or Islamophobia in Australia, describing antisemitic chants by some protesters at the Sydney Opera House last week as "beyond offensive" and "a betrayal of our Australian values".
Anthony Albanese has described antisemitic chants in Sydney as a "betrayal" of Australian values. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins
"My government is committed to preventing discrimination against people of faith ... An attack on any religion is an attack on all religions ... We all share a responsibility to unite, condemn and defeat such an attack on our common values and way of life."
Dutton condemns 'sheer barbarity', repeats call for protesters to be deported
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said the attack by Hamas was an act of "sheer barbarity", and the Coalition "proudly supports Israel's right to do what is necessary and needed in the circumstances".
"No longer can the apologists of this death cult claim they have a just and noble cause ... There must be no restraint shown to these who have shown no restraint themselves," he said.
Dutton also urged Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil to use her ministerial powers to deport people engaging in antisemitic behaviour. The visa status of those who took part in a number of antisemitic chants, including calls for violence, is currently unclear.
Peter Dutton repeated calls to deport protesters who shouted antisemitic chants at the Sydney protest. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
"Jewish parents are concerned about their children wearing their Jewish school uniform in public. In our country, Jewish people are apprehensive about their safety when visiting a Jewish supermarket, or practicing their faith at a synagogue," he said.
"Not because of something they've done or said, but because of who they are, because of their faith, because of their heritage, because of their beliefs.
"The rally at the Sydney Opera House escalated that antisemitism. We have to recognise that, because the impact it has had on the Jewish community here in Australia will take a lot to undo."
Dutton directly quoted antisemitic chants that called for violence against Jewish people before claiming, without presenting evidence, that a Labor MP, who vocally criticised his decision to quote it, had condoned the chant.
"The words should never have been said in the first place. And shame on you. Shame on you for condoning those words, or suggesting that those words shouldn't be condemned in this place. I won't stop saying that," he said.
A leading organiser of the Sydney Opera House rally has previously condemned the antisemitic chants.
"I intervened to shut down antisemitic chants from a group of idiots who were in the minority. Police told me to my face that they would not assist," Fahad Ali wrote on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter.
