The Nightly live news: Jewish leaders say community lives in fear after ‘failure’ to stop anti-Semitic attacks
Keep up to date on the fallout from the widely condemned “anti-Semitic” arson attack in the eastern Sydney suburb of Woollahra as well as the latest in Australian politics and world news.
Key Events
Police investigating new graffiti attack
A spokesperson for NSW Police said the offensive graffiti was observed about 11.30am today on the Princes Highway in Arncliffe, on the walls of a construction site.
“Officers attached to St George Police Area Command attended and commenced inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the spokesperson said.
Anyone with information about the incident should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
‘Hitler was right’: Fresh anti-Semitic graffiti attack
Fresh anti-Semitic vandalism has been discovered in another Sydney suburb, hours after a car was set alight and property defaced with offensive words in Woollhara.
In the latest attack a construction site in Arncliffe was sprayed with racist words, including “Hitler was right”, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The offenders also wrote: “Westfield = Jews.” and “All banks owned by Jews”.
NSW Police has been contacted for comment.
Dan Murphy’s reveals the massive cost of Woolies strike
The owner of Dan Murphy’s and BWS has so far lost $25 million in sales due to the 17-day strike at Woolworths distribution centres that led to stock shortages at the alcohol retailer and grocer.
Woolworths earlier this week flagged a $140m hit in lost food sales up to December 8, with about $90m added since the previous update when it flagged an initial impact of $50m.
Endeavour has followed suit and in a statement after the market closed on Tuesday said it had been “adversely impacted by approximately $25m”. It warned sales would continue to be impacted while stores are replenished.
Jewish community living in fear after attacks, leaders
Jewish Australian leaders have said their community is living in fear in the wake of the latest anti-Semitic attack and have called for stronger political leadership to end the crisis.
“I felt sick to the stomach. It’s as if we see Australia crumbling before our very eyes. Anti-Semitism throughout history has been associated with a decline of society,” Australian Jewish Association President David Adler told The Nightly.
“There is another dimension as to why this has grown so much, and it is the failure of political leadership and the failure of law enforcement to deal with the problem, and we saw it right from the beginning,” he said.
Mr Adler said there had been many cases of threats and some actual attacks against Jewish businesses, people, and schools, and that he personally had faced death threats.
He called on the government to better enforce existing laws against incitement and to take more action to tackle anti-Semitism on university campuses.
Menachem Vorchheimer, a Jewish community advocate in Melbourne, also urged better enforcement of existing laws rather than the introduction of new ones.
“We’re lost for words, because we feel abandoned by the government,” he said, arguing that the government had done too little, too late since the October 7 terrorist attacks in 2023.
“This government is great at symbolism, poor action, poor at action, and poor at leadership.”
PM dodges questions on latest attack, Government response
The Prime Minister has dodged questions from journalists about his Government’s response to the rise in anti-Semitic attacks following the incident in Woollahra overnight.
As he left the Brisbane venue where he had given a major campaign speech about childcare, Anthony Albanese held a baby while media attempted to question him about the mounting criticism against him and his team.
He did not hold a press conference, but as he was door-stopped, he reiterated his condemnation of the Woollahra attacks overnight.
He said he’d made a “public statement” but refused to answer questions about whether he needed to use stronger language in response to anti-Semitism, why he wasn’t doing a press conference, and whether the rise in attacks could be linked to Labor’s changing policy.
$1 billion fund to build new childcare centres
Anthony Albanese is fleshing out his new childcare policy in a speech at a campaign-style rally in Brisbane.
As well as scrapping the activity test to guarantee three days of subsidised care – a foreshadowed overnight – the Prime Minister has just announced a $1 billion fund to build and run childcare centres in underserviced areas.
This will particularly help regional towns and outer suburban areas where for-profit providers don’t see it viable to set up new services, leaving parents in the lurch.
“When the market fails, government should step up and act. That is precisely what we are going to do,” Mr Albanese said.
The new fund will start by building or expanding more than 160 early education and care centres.
Mr Albanese said the commitment was more than “just signing off on the plans and walking away” but an investment in owning the centres run by high-quality non-profit operators “to keep the doors of opportunity open in these communities”.
Direct intervention to make sure parents can still access childcare even where the market has failed was a feature of the Productivity Commission and ACCC examinations of the childcare system.
‘We must stand together’: Anthony Albanese speaks out after Sydney arson attack
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken time prior to a speech in Queensland, to condemn the latest attacks on the Jewish community in Sydney.
“Before I begin, I want to say I’ve been briefed by the AFP on their investigation into the disgraceful incident in Sydney overnight, I unequivocally condemn the shameful acts that are aimed at the Jewish community,” Mr Albanese said.
“We must all continue to stand together against anti semitism. one of the things that makes us the greatest nation is that people of every faith and background has the right to feel safe.
“We must preserve that and defend it.”
New report tables the sum you’ll need for a comfortable retirement
Self-funded retirees have been handed an early Christmas present — the cost of funding their life after work is actually falling following years of inflation-fuelled misery.
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia’s latest snapshot of the cost of living for those bankrolling their own retirement shows a 0.5 per cent fall.
ASFA have declred figures that for a “comfortable” standard of living in retirement, for couples and singles aged around 65.
Six children rescued from sex trafficking after AFP-led investigation
The arrest of two men on child sexual abuse charges has sparked an Australian Federal Police-led international investigation and the rescue of six victims.
Victims as young as two years old have been rescued from the hands of sex traffickers in the Philippines after the Tasmanian joint anti child exploitation team arrested and charged a 41-year-old man.
During a search warrant at the man’s home, investigators allegedly found child abuse images and videos, and a text-based conversation with a person allegedly facilitating the sale of child abuse material.
Further digital forensic analysis of the seized phone led AFP investigators to allegedly locate evidence that the facilitator and child victims were based in the Philippines.
Syrian warships wiped out by Israel as troops advance past buffer zone
Smouldering and half-submerged, this is the mangled wreckage of a Syrian warship destroyed by Israel in the wake of Bashar al–Assad’s downfall.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s forces have wiped out Syria’s military hardware, smashing its chemical weapons and seizing the demilitarised Golan Heights in devastating strikes.
The IDF pressed beyond the previously demilitarised buffer zone as it vowed to “attack with strength and determination” if the new Syrian regime turns against Israel.
But it strongly denied claims that its tanks had moved within 20km of the capital Damascus, insisting it is simply firming up its borders after jihadist rebels overthrew Assad.
