A strongly worded opinion article on Sydney Criminal Lawyers argues that Australia’s move to adopt a new national plan to combat antisemitism risks undermining long‑promised First Nations truth‑telling.
Writer Paul Gregoire notes that the Albanese government came to office promising broad First Nations reform, including a Voice to Parliament, treaty and truth‑telling. After the Voice was defeated in October 2023, he argues, political will to progress truth‑telling and treaty waned.
The article criticises Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to adopt all 13 recommendations in a plan released by antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal, including the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. Gregoire writes that many of the IHRA examples conflate criticism of Israel and Zionism with prejudice against Jewish people, warning this could be used to suppress advocacy for Palestinian rights.
He argues that adopting Israel’s “hasbara” – propaganda – framework would make it harder for Australia to confront its own settler‑colonial history, because acknowledging local injustices may be seen as weakening support for Israel’s actions in Palestine.
Thorpe and other First Nations leaders are quoted emphasising that truth‑telling about invasion, massacres and ongoing injustice must come before treaty, and warning that new censorship regimes would be in “active conflict” with that process.
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