Australian leaders meet after wave of anti-Semitic attacks; torched childcare centre is latest case

SYDNEY - An Australian childcare centre was torched on Jan 21 as the nation battled a wave of anti-semitic attacks, prompting the prime minister to convene a high-level meeting of political leaders.

The childcare centre in eastern Sydney was sprayed with anti-Jewish graffiti and set ablaze in the early hours of the morning of Jan 21, an attack condemned as a “horrifying” hate crime by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Police believed the building was targeted because it was located near a popular synagogue, adding that no one was injured.

Vandals have in recent months

daubed racist slogans across inner Sydney, splashed red paint on Jewish places of worship, and set cars ablaze in neighbourhoods that many Jewish residents call home.

Masked arsonists torched a Melbourne synagogue in December 2024, prompting the government to create a federal task force targeting anti-semitism.

“What we saw overnight with this attack is the latest in a series of anti-semitic hate crimes,” Mr Albanese told reporters.

“This is a place for children and families and it should never have been denigrated by this despicable and horrifying crime.”

In response to the Jan 21 incident, Mr Albanese convened a meeting of Australia’s national Cabinet, a high-level forum which pulls together leaders from each state and territory.

“It will be an opportunity for us to discuss collectively the responses that are being made by state and territory governments,” he said ahead of the Jan 21 evening discussions.

New South Wales premier Chris Minns said the “bastards” behind the attacks would be “rounded up” by police.

“The public needs to have confidence, and they should have confidence, that the resources are going in to fight this crime,” he told reporters.

Police said on Jan 21 they had charged eight people in connection with a string of “hate crime-related incidents” across Sydney dating back to November 2024. AFP