Australian Jewish groups expressed differing reactions after Anthony Albanese claimed a historic second term as prime minister on Saturday.
Albanese made a dramatic comeback against the once-resurgent Conservatives that was powered by voters’ concerns about the influence of US President Donald Trump.
He is the first Australian prime minister to win a consecutive term in two decades. Albanese said Australians voted for fairness and had “the strength to show courage in adversity and kindness to those in need.”
The Australian Electoral Commission website projected that the Labor Party, led by Albanese, would win 80 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, increasing its majority, as 90% of polling places have already been counted.
The Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) congratulated Albanese on his reelection and said it looked forward to engaging “constructively with the new government on issues of shared concern.”
However, ZFA president Jeremy Leibler noted that the election had taken place against the backdrop of a “deeply painful period for Jewish Australians.”
Antisemitism in the country has soared in the last year and a half following the October 7 massacre. In November, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry reported that there was a 316% increase in antisemitic occurrences in Australia between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024.
Alluding to this, Leibler said, “For the first time in history, many Jews in this country felt they had to justify their place in Australian society.”
He added that the relationship between the Jewish community and the Albanese government has been strained, and that certain foreign policy decisions and responses to antisemitism have challenged the sense of trust in the government.
While he said ZFA welcomes the pre-election commitments made by the government to increase security funding for the Jewish community, combat antisemitism, and support social cohesion, he acknowledged the electoral loss for Liberal candidate Peter Dutton, who had expressed “unequivocal support for the Jewish community and for the Australia-Israel relationship.”
“We hope this new term provides an opportunity to return to that spirit of principled consensus and bipartisan support,” Leibler said. “The Jewish community will continue to advocate for itself with strength and purpose – defending our values, deepening our partnerships, and contributing to the democratic fabric of this country.”
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The Australian Jewish Association expressed disappointment in Albanese’s win, calling it a “major blow to the Jewish community and many others in Australia.”
Extending its congratulations to Albanese as well as to reelected Jewish politicians Mark Dreyfus, Josh Burns, and Mike Freelander from Labor and to Liberal Julian Leeser, the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) nevertheless expressed similar sentiments. It noted the loss of Dutton and the Liberals, who it called the “staunch friends of the Jewish community.”
Dr. Colin Rubenstein, AIJAC’s executive director, said that the electoral win constitutes an opportunity for the Labor government to “push back more strongly against unprecedented levels of antisemitism, hate speech, and incitement to violence.”
Rubenstein also called for a return to the longstanding bipartisan position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including “an acceptance that premature recognition of a non-existent Palestinian state will be detrimental to peacemaking.”
ALEX RYVCHIN, cochief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said there has been “a lot of anger in the community about the federal government’s handling of what has become an antisemitism crisis.”Some Jewish Australians, however, celebrated the Labor victory, including Mcnamara MP Burns, who was reelected for another three years.
Three days before the election, Burns’ electoral billboard was vandalized with a red Star of David painted over his face.
Burns wrote on Instagram that the graffiti was “reminiscent of the worst times in my community’s history where this symbol has been misappropriated to isolate, harass, intimidate, and mark Jewish people and their property.”
“When Jewish people here at home say that antisemitism has increased in our country,” he added, “this is what we mean – and we need you to listen to us.” Burns said that he wore his Star of David necklace during early voting with pride.
Antisemitism in Australia
In recent months, Australian Jews have been the target of multiple antisemitic attacks, including vandalism, threats, harassment, and a spate of arson attempts.
Mike Burgess, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), said in February that antisemitism is now the “number one priority in terms of threat to life because of the weight of incidents we’re seeing play out in this country.”
“Antisemitism and significant antisemitic acts are prominent in our investigation caseload at this point in time,” he continued.
This marked the first time in Australia’s history that a form of racism was the number one concern for ASIO, Burgess said.
The rising anti-Jewish sentiment and incidents in the country’s capital resulted in the formation of Strike Force Pearl, an ongoing operation investigating antisemitic incidents by NSW police.