Mount Scopus: Anti-hate laws to be finalised with ‘a sense of pace’ after school graffiti attack, Marles says

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles claims anti-Semitism in Australia has reached levels not seen in his lifetime amid calls for anti-hate laws to be strengthened immediately.

His comments come after one of the nation’s most prominent Jewish day schools was targeted in a sickening graffiti attack.

Mr Marles visited the Mount Scopus Memorial College in the east Melbourne suburb of Burwood after threatening graffiti was found spray painted on its perimeter fence at the weekend.

“The levels of anti-Semitism that we have seen in the past few months (is) more than any that I’ve seen during my lifetime, and it must stop. It has no place in our country,” he told reporters at the school, where he spoke with staff and students on Monday morning.

“The sorts of words that we saw written on the walls of this school have no place in our society and it is critically important that at this moment, the nation stands up against this anti-Semitism.”

The action sparked widespread condemnation, led by Jewish Community Council of Victoria President Philip Zajac who said the threat “left our community devastated and in shock”.

“Tens of thousands of Jewish Victorians were educated at Mount Scopus. I cannot comprehend the depravity of the person who decided to scrawl that slogan on the school fence,” he said.

Mount Scopus principal Dan Sztrajt echoed the sentiment on Monday, saying the community was hurting after the incident, which he said “is a product of unchecked racism, unchecked anti-Semitism” in Victoria.

Mr Sztrajt called for strengthened anti-hate laws, saying that if there was immediate action against antisemitism and immediate consequences for those who participate, “we will see a reduction” in incidents.

Mr Marles said the government was still finalising its anti-hate speech legislation amid a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic behaviour after the war in the Middle East erupted.

“We do want to do this with a sense of pace. We need to have these laws in place as quickly as we can have them in place, without obviously compromising the thorough consultation which needs to be undertaken,” he said.

The federal government is working on new hate speech laws that will enforce criminal penalties for serious instances of vilification based on sexuality, gender, race and religion.

It is unclear whether the Opposition will support the bill, as federal Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters in Canberra he would need to see its details first and ensure there are “no unintended consequences on freedom of speech and democracy”.

Mr Littleproud condemned the “abhorrent” attack on Mount Scopus and called for unity across Australia.

“I get there’s tension in the Middle East but it should stay in the Middle East — that needs to stay there,” he said on Monday.

“What we saw on the weekend was abhorrent — I mean, that sort of stuff we saw back in the 30s and 40s.”

On October 7, the designated terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1200 people and taking more than 200 hostages according to Tel Aviv.

In response, Israel has launched a bombing campaign and counter-offensive in Gaza that, according to the local health ministry, has killed nearly 36,000 Palestinians, injured more than 80,000 and displaced more than 1.7 million.

Victoria Police confirmed it is investigating the attack at Mount Scopus, but said no arrests had been made at this stage.

A police spokesperson said there was “absolutely no place at all in our society of anti-Semitic sentiments or behaviour”.