Australia news LIVE: Dutton announces antisemitism taskforce after Melbourne synagogue firebombing; New polls spell trouble for Labor
Quickly jumping back to this morning’s media appearances, Energy Minister Chris Bowen gave an interview to ABC’s RN Breakfast that turned tense when it touched on the political responses to the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue on Friday.
The tension arose when Bowen referenced an earlier RN interview with opposition home affairs spokesperson James Paterson. Paterson said that it was a failure of leadership that had allowed there to be no convictions for displaying symbols of listed terrorist organisations.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
When asked how enforcing the law could possibly be the prime minister’s responsibility, Paterson said government leaders have “the opportunity to make it very clear to the federal police and others what the expectations of them are”.
Bowen jumped on Paterson’s comments.
“For James Paterson to suggest, as he just did a few minutes ago, that the prime minister and the home affairs minister should be sitting down with the federal police guiding them about who to arrest. And what was just an unbelievable, and misunderstanding deliberately of the separation of powers,” Bowen said.
He then argued the politicisation of the debate was problematic, defending the government’s response.
“Of course the government will respond accordingly, any government would to be fair, a Labor government would, a Liberal government would,” Bowen said.
“This is not a matter of partisan politics, antisemitism has no place in Australia. Anybody would say antisemitism has no place in Australia, and Islamophobia has no role to play.”
The interview took a turn when Bowen again referenced the opposition home affairs spokesperson, claiming Paterson had said, “Islamophobia shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence [as antisemitism].”
Host Patricia Karvelas contested that Paterson had said “it should be enough to just denounce antisemitism” without bringing up other forms of discrimination.
Paterson actually said, “both of those things [antisemitism and Islamophobia] are equally morally abhorrent, but they are not equally prevalent. There’s been far more antisemitism in our country over the last year than any other form of hatred.”
