‘Are we going to be safe?’: Julian Leeser tells of his son’s fears

Jewish Liberal MP Julian Leeser has fought back tears as he described to the antisemitism royal commission the impact of the Bondi terror attack on his own child.Leeser, the federal Liberal education spokesman, told the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion his eight-year-old son’s reaction to going to a synagogue for a recent bar mitzvah.Julian Leeser at Parliament House in February.Alex Ellinghausen“His little hand grabbed my hand pretty tight, and he said to me, ‘Dad, how do you know we’re going to be safe?’” Leeser said.“I could see the police car there, I said to him, ‘Of course, we’ll be safe’. But of course, I couldn’t guarantee it.“If an eight-year-old child doesn’t feel safe going into a place of worship, that’s not the Australia I know and love. It’s not the Australia I want for my children or anyone’s children.”Commissioner Virginia Bell has spent the past week hearing evidence about the security implications for the Jewish community of a recent explosion of antisemitism.Leeser said his political posters had been defaced with antisemitic tropes such as Hitler moustaches, swastikas and dollar signs drawn on his face. He said it was normal for politicians to be criticised but, “although sometimes you’re wounded by the barbs, it’s not going to an immutable quality like my faith background”.He said the nature of antisemitism had changed over the course of history: “In the Middle Ages, Jews were hated for their religion. In the 19th and 20th century, they were hated for their race. Today, they’re hated for their nation state.”Another witness gave evidence that the community was building a wall around itself to protect the garden of its faith.Tahli Blicblau, who works for a Jewish community non-profit, the Dor Foundation, and is a former counter-terrorism practitioner, said the garden was “Jewish religious, cultural, and education ... those things that make a vibrant community thrive”.The wall was the security they had needed to build to protect it.Tahli Blicblau arriving at an earlier hearing of the royal commission in Sydney.Sitthixay DitthavongThe commission has heard this week that schools, synagogues, children’s camps and other events were employing armed guards and building blast-proof walls, and relied heavily on a volunteer security corps to feel safe.“In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need the wall … Certainly, we don’t want that wall, but unfortunately, it is needed,” Blicblau told the commission.She said it had come at a high cost to the Jewish community.“And in a world where philanthropic funds are finite, there is a constant debate … within Jewish philanthropy … about the increasing need to invest in the wall at the expense of the garden – which could lead that garden to wilt.”Royal commissioner Virginia BellJanie BarrettIt was “not possible, and it should not be expected, for Jewish philanthropy to cover the cost of protective security,” she said.Both Leeser and Blicblau said the threat to the community came from Islamic extremism, the far right and the far left.Commissioner Virginia Bell asked Blicblau if she considered “some individuals involved in what I would call the pro-Palestine movement” as being from the dangerous far left.“I wouldn’t describe it in those exact terms,” Blicblau replied. “I’m talking about an extreme fringe radical element, of which that is certainly a part of the ideological drivers. But the people I’m talking about are anti-democratic, anti-Australian, anti-colonial generally, which extends not only to Israel but also to Australia.”“You’re not suggesting,” asked Bell, “that individuals who march in protests about the Palestinian cause are motivated towards violence towards Jewish people, are you?”“I would say the vast majority of them are not,” Blicblau replied.As for funding, the Home Affairs department’s assistant secretary in charge of law enforcement policy, Zadie Bow, said the Executive Council of Australian Jewry had received two big government grants for security upgrades.The first for $21 million was paid in 2023, and another for $120 million over four years was granted in 2025.Repeatedly this week, the royal commission has grappled with the difficulty of getting accurate figures on hate crimes from police.Three Victoria Police witnesses have said the LEAP system, which records crimes, does not have hate crimes as a box to tick for the officer making the report.To interrogate these figures, a researcher would need to conduct a “deep dive” into the “narrative”. Even so, it might not provide a complete picture because police officers were not required to record such information.In Western Australia, by contrast, police Assistant Commissioner Jo McCabe told the commission that since last year they have had the ability capture hate-motivated offences under various categories including race, religion, gender and sexual orientation. An algorithm would then check over it, McCabe said. Bow told the commission the federal government was also trying to establish an accurate national register of hate crimes.The government hopes to record both hate crimes and “incidents”, Bow said, but had not yet defined what to include.“Incidents are much more difficult to capture because they don’t rise to the level of crime, so police don’t often capture that data,” Bow said.Meanwhile, Australia’s health practitioner watchdog is facing growing backlash over its decision to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.Last month, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency announced it would adopt the definition, which its critics argue conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism.On Friday, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners confirmed it had raised concerns directly with AHPRA, seeking assurances that the policy wouldn’t lead to a surge in vexatious complaints against healthcare workers.The Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation, representing over 256,000 workers, shared similar concerns.The federation was “particularly concerned” that members could face regulatory action for “valid criticism of the actions of the state of Israel”.More than 3200 healthcare workers have signed a petition warning that AHPRA’s change could “target practitioners for lawful advocacy”.Healthcare workers will protest against the changes in Sydney and Adelaide this weekend.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.More:Antisemitism royal commissionAntisemitismJulian LeeserMichael Bachelard is a senior writer and former deputy editor and investigations editor of The Age. He has worked in Canberra, Melbourne and Jakarta, has written two books and won multiple awards for journalism, including the Gold Walkley.Connect via X or email.Henrietta Cook is a senior reporter covering health for The Age. Henrietta joined The Age in 2012 and has previously covered state politics, education and consumer affairs. Email her via henrietta.cook@theage.com.au or henrietta.cook@protonmail.comConnect via X, Facebook or email.From our partners