As a member of Australia’s Jewish community and a descendant of Holocaust survivors, I can proudly say that Australia’s Jewish community has played the single largest role in passing and expanding hate speech legislation in Australia, and Australia’s Jewish community also played the single largest role in forcing the Abbott government to back down when it recently tried to weaken our federal hate speech laws.
The changes to federal hate speech laws were staunchly opposed by every single human rights group and minority advocacy group in Australia, but Australian Jewish groups definitely played the largest role in making the Abbott government abandon its plans to weaken our federal hate speech laws. In fact, The Times of Israel actually ran an article titled “Australian Jews block change in local race-hate laws“. Without the immense pressure from Australia’s Jewish community, our hate speech laws would have been watered down like Brandis wanted them to be.
I am immensely proud of the fact that Australia’s Jews have been at the forefront of protecting and promoting human rights in this country. The Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI) – which works to combat online hatred in Australia and abroad – is staffed entirely by Jewish Australians. Without Australia’s Jews, hate speech legislation in this country would not be anywhere near as strong. In fact, it might not even exist at all. The Jewish role in human rights activism is a source of immeasurable pride for me.
