Australia’s Victoria state to start anti-hate task force after Melbourne synagogue arson
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Counter-terrorism detectives late on July 5 arrested a 34-year-old Sydney resident in relation to the alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue.
PHOTO: AFP
SYDNEY – Australia’s Victoria state will set up an anti-hate task force to help frame laws that give police more powers to tackle violent protests, as it probes an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue when worshippers were inside, it said on July 7.
No one was injured in the incident, which took place on the night of July 4. The 20 people who were inside the East Melbourne Synagogue fled from the fire, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the Jewish community.
“Just as the fire came to the front door here of this (synagogue), it was stopped. So, too, must we put a stop to anti-Semitism,” Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters outside the synagogue.
“Not only does it have no place here in Melbourne and Victoria, it has no place anywhere.”
Ms Allan said the task force, which would include her, the state police minister, the mayor of Melbourne and police personnel, would have its first meeting this week. Jewish community representatives will be invited to attend the meeting.
The government is consulting experts while drafting a Bill to ban face masks, the display of terror symbols, and devices used by protesters to attach themselves to objects that make it difficult for police to remove them, Ms Allan said.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on July 5 arrested a 34-year-old Sydney resident, whom the authorities declined to identify, charging him with offences including criminal damage by fire.
Police said the man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door and set it on fire before fleeing.
Australia has experienced several anti-Semitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023. Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by anti-Semitic vandalism and arson.
In January, a home in Sydney previously owned by a senior Jewish community leader was vandalised, two cars were set on fire, and a Jewish school and two other properties in Sydney were sprayed with anti-Semitic slurs.
Melbourne’s Adass synagogue, built by holocaust survivors in the 1960s, suffered widespread damage in 2024 after a fire that also left one person injured. REUTERS
