Australian news and politics recap: NSW Health staff stood down over vile anti-Semitic video

While Mr Ryvchin commended the quick response of authorites to stand down the two health workers in the video, he said “anti-Semitism has sadly taken root in Australia”.

He said the video showed why anti-Semitic attacks were escalating.

“I view it as an insight into the ideology that leads people to burn, to attack, to vilify, to harass, to threaten their fellow Australians because they’re the Jewish faith,” Mrryvchin said.

“So we’ve seen this for a long time now, the spread of this ideology throughout the professions. We’ve seen in the legal profession, we’ve seen in the humanities academia.

“This is obviously an extremely startling and troubling example, because it is so brazen, it is so open, it is so public, and it is in the medical profession. But this is happening across society.”

Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin says the vile anti-Semitic video that has provoked widespread condemnation this morning is “just the tip of the iceberg”.

“It always seems to take an extreme incident like this to bring some sort of clarity and action,” Mr Ryvchin, who is co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said at a press conference.

“But for a long time now, for months, I’ve been hearing from members of the community, from medical practitioners in the community, who have been warning about extreme content posted by other doctors and nurses online, about extreme content in social media chats.

“This is clearly the first time it’s gone to such a public, brazen level.

“But I think we’d be kidding ourselves if we thought that these were isolated individuals. I think that this is merely the tip of the iceberg.”

Officers from Strike Force Pearl will take carriage of the police investigation into a video showing Bankstown health workers spouting anti-Semitic threats.

“Officers attached to Strike Force Pearl have now taken carriage of the investigation,” NSW Police confirmed.

“NSW Health, believe they have identified the individuals involved and are currently assisting detectives with their investigation.

“A thorough investigation is underway.”

Football Australia says it will “reflect with Sam on learnings from this matter”, as star player Kerr is aquitted of racial harrassment.

It has not, however, clarified whether she will remain as captain.

“Football Australia will reflect with Sam on learnings from this matter and we will continue to provide appropriate support for her moving forward.”

“We look forward to Sam’s return to the pitch and her continued contributions to both her club and the Matildas on the world stage.”

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Australia has returned to the top 10 countries for stamping out corruption for the first time in since 2016, after a decade-long slide in its rating.

But Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus warns public confidence in political systems can be easily shattered.

“We need to keep working at it,” he said at the launch of Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index.

“One of the reasons for creating a National Anti-Corruption Commission is to provide an assurance and build confidence and build public trust.

“But it’s a fragile thing. It can be shaken quite quickly by individual actions of individual ministers or individual prime ministers – think multiple ministries.”

The Prime Minister has weighed in on the video of two Bankstown health workers threatening to ‘kill’ Israeli patients that has caused widespread outrage.

Mr Albanese labelled the footage as “sickening and shameful”, reports Ellen Ransley.

“These anti-Semitic comments, driven by hate, have no place in our health system and no place anywhere in Australia.

“These individuals have been stood down by NSW Authorities.

“They have rightly been referred to the NSW Police for criminal investigation.

The PM said anyone could to have committed criminal anti-Semitic acts “will face the full force of our laws”.

The Coalition has also condemened the video, describing it as “utterly disgraceful and deeply disturbing”.

Health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said the country’s healthcare system “must be a place of safety, respect and dignity for all”.

“It is not good enough to merely stand these healthcare workers down. The relevant authorities must also assess whether they should continue to practise in the health field ever again,” she said.

“The broader culture of this hospital must be examined to ensure that this is nothing more than an isolated incident from rogue individuals.”

Home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the video was “sickening” but was just the latest “disturbing incident in Australia’s out-of-control anti-Semitism crisis”.

“Such behaviour cannot be tolerated. The AFP and NSW police must immediately investigate whether this conduct meets a criminal threshold, including under the Criminal Code Amendment passed last week,” he said.

The Associated Press says the White House barred one of its reporters from entering an executive order signing after the news organization did not update its editorial standards renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”

“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” AP’s executive editor Julie Pace said.

“Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”

The Federal Government has “utterly condemened the appalling video” of the two Bankstown Hospital health workers.

In a statement, Health Minister Mark Butler and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the video was “as chilling as it is vile”, and the comments made are “sickening and totally unacceptable”.

“We welcome the news that those responsible for the video have been stood down from their jobs and the incident has been referred to police. We fully endorse the swift and decisive action taken by the NSW Government,” the pair said.

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They said Australians “have a right to feel safe wherever they go, and nowhere should be safer than a hospital”.

“Health workers have a solemn duty to treat and heal everyone who comes before them needing help. The vast majority hold to that oath,” the ministers said.

“The idea that you would single out a particular group in our community and indicate you wouldn’t care for them runs against every single principle in our health care system.

“These sort of comments – and the hatred that underpins them – have no place in our health system and no place anywhere in Australia.”

Video of two NSW Health workers making disgusting anti-Semitic threats has caused a storm of outrage this morning.

Watch it here:

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