Victorian Premier Issues Statement 8 July
The Anti-Hate Taskforce met today for the first time, bringing together members of local and state government, Victoria Police and our state’s Jewish community to work together against hate.
The acts we saw at the East Melbourne Synagogue, Miznon, and elsewhere in the city were designed to harm the Jewish community.
This disgraceful behaviour does not belong in Victoria.
As a taskforce, we are working together to respond – because every Victorian deserves to feel safe in their homes, on our streets and in our communities.
I want to thank Jeremy Leibler, President of the Zionist Federation of Australia, Philip Zajac, President of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria and Elyse Schachna, President of Zionism Victoria, for attending and sharing their insights on how we can tackle the evil of anti-Semitism head on.
The Taskforce heard from Chief Commissioner Bush on the work of Operation Park and Victoria Police’s readiness to implement the criminal components of the Anti-Vilification and Social Cohesion Act.
Members heard about the work of the Local Escalation and Help (LEAH) group and their key priorities: community safety, countering violent extremism, countering anti-Semitism and the mental health and wellbeing of our Jewish community.
We also discussed the importance of education in combatting anti-Semitism.
And we detailed our strong action plan to reject division and stop hate, including our raft of tough new laws that will be introduced to Parliament as soon as possible – targetted at stamping out extreme, dangerous and radical public demonstrations.
Finally, we agreed if there were further action we needed to take to keep Victorians safe – we will not hesitate to take it.
The Taskforce will meet again in the coming weeks to discuss the progress of our plan – because we won’t rest until every Victorian feels safe to be who they are.
We will also continue to meet with other communities who have faced hateful conduct, because hate and violence doesn’t belong anywhere in Victoria.
We are one Victoria – united and respectful.
Every Victorian deserves to live with dignity – and our children should grow up with pride in their identity and safety in their community.
Because it doesn’t matter if you’re Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh or Hindu – we all deserve the right to simply be who we are, free from hate.
https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-07/250708-Statement-From-The-Premier.pdf