Australia’s Jewish communities need increased protection, Opposition tell Prime Minister

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been urged to do more to protect Australia’s Jewish communities following an arson attack on an east Melbourne synagogue on Friday night.

Some 20 people were inside the synagogue at the time of the incident, in which flammable liquid was poured on the front door and set alight. The occupants managed to escape via the rear of the building and no one was injured.

Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser said Mr Albanese needed to follow the lead of other world leaders in lifting efforts to protect Jewish communities from hateful attacks against the backdrop of conflict in the Middle East.

Mr Leeser said the PM had ignored a letter, sent on June 15, from Opposition leader Sussan Ley, shadow minister for home affairs Andrew Hastie and himself which had stressed the need for greater protection.

“This is a very sad day for Australia . . . one of the oldest synagogues in Australia has been fire bombed,” he told reporters on Saturday.

“It’s a synagogue that bespeaks the rich and long history of the Jewish people in this country. There’s even a prayer for the King there that goes back to Queen Victoria’s time in both Hebrew and English.

“This is an attack on all Australians. It is not just an attack on the Jewish community and it sickens me, but yet again the Jewish community is having to put up with these attacks, and the increasing anti-Semitism people think has gone away but continues, sadly, unabated.”

Mr Leeser said the Opposition was putting the PM on notice to take more steps to protect the Jewish community.

“I don’t know that he’s done all he can here,” he said.

“We’re calling on him to explain what measures he has taken to protect the Jewish community, and if he didn’t take increased measures, why he didn’t take increased measures at that time.”

Mr Leeser said there needed to be increased police presence and security around Jewish community buildings.

“We have got to put an end to the hate that we see in this country,” he said.

Victorian premier Jacinta Allan has condemned the synagogue attack as “disgraceful behaviour by a pack of cowards”.

“That this happened on Shabbat makes it all the more abhorrent,” she said in a statement.

“Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of anti-Semitism.”

On Saturday, police released the image of a man detectives want to speak to about the incident.

He has been described as being of Caucasian appearance, believed to be in his 30s with a beard and long hair.

Damage from the fire was contained to the front entrance.