Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, Natasha Belling with you and welcome to the afternoon edition of The Briefing. Coming up in our deep dive, we'll unpack the interim report from the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism after the Bondi Beach terror attack, which was handed down today. Those details in just a moment. But first, let's check the afternoon headlines this Thursday, the 30th of April.
Police have confirmed a tragic outcome in the ongoing search for missing five-year-old Sharon Granites in the Northern Territory.
Chapter 2: What tragic event is reported about the missing girl in NT?
Local police saying a body was discovered earlier today.
Just before midday today, police members of the search party located the body of a young Aboriginal girl we believe to be five-year-old Sharon Granites. The body was found about five kilometres south of the crime scene at Old Timers Camp. This is an incredibly distressing development. Sharon's family have been formally notified and our thoughts are firmly with them at this devastating time.
Chapter 3: What are the latest updates on the US-Iran war cost estimates?
Sharon was abducted from her Alice Springs home five days ago with a criminal investigation now underway.
Right now, we are focused on a grieving family, a grieving town and a grieving Northern Territory. And as police have said... We now focus our energy in making sure we find the person who did this and bring them to justice and bring them to justice for Sharon.
In the United States, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was in the hot seat of Congress facing questions from US lawmakers for the first time since the beginning of the Iran war.
Chapter 4: What legal consequences did Mark Latham face for his tweets?
During that hearing, the US Pentagon gave its latest estimate for the cost of the war at US$25 billion. The Defence Secretary also using his appearance to take aim at US politicians on the left who oppose the war.
The biggest challenge... The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans.
Meantime, CNN reports that Donald Trump is planning to extend the blockade of Iranian ports.
Chapter 5: How has the demographic of Australian residents changed recently?
The US president reportedly sees that economic pressure on Iran as the best way to force the country back to the negotiating table. Mark Latham has been ordered to pay independent MP Alex Greenwich $100,000 after a tribunal found that Mr Latham had vilified and sexually harassed Mr Greenwich. The case relates to two tweets made by Mr Latham, who was a former One Nation MP.
He has been ordered to refrain from any further homosexual vilification of Mr Greenwich, who is openly gay. Later stats show the largest number of people living in Australia who were born overseas are now from India. 32% of Australian residents were born overseas, with the biggest group previously from England.
But now the Bureau has released new figures today showing that India has just overtaken England. China and New Zealand are the other two most common countries of origin for people migrating to Australia. And a new list of the most loved Aussie films has been released.
The Sydney Morning Herald has collected a list of the 50 best Australian films as voted on by 24 experts in and around the Australian film industry. The original Mad Max came in at number five, followed by two films from iconic director Peter Weir, who made Picnic at Hanging Rock in number three spot and Gallipoli in number two. And coming in at first spot is Samson and Delilah.
the film written and directed by Warwick Thornton about two Indigenous teenagers finding love in the outback. Now it's time to get into our deep dive on the Royal Commission into Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion, which handed down its interim report this morning.
Shortly afterwards, the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, held a news conference to say that Australia will adopt all of the recommendations in the report.
I can confirm that the National Security Committee has met this morning and we have adopted and will implement all the recommendations... of the interim report that are relevant to the Commonwealth.
There were 14 recommendations in the report, five of which were kept classified. The Prime Minister says that those recommendations were kept secret, saying they contained sensitive national security information.
Among the other recommendations are that Jewish festivals and events should receive greater security protections from police and that Australia's national gun control laws should be strengthened.
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Chapter 6: What recommendations were made in the Royal Commission report on antisemitism?
Joining us now is Anthony Lowenstein, a journalist, filmmaker, author of The Palestine Laboratory, who is also on the advisory committee of the Jewish Council of Australia. Anthony, thanks so much for joining us. Important to note, these are interim findings from this Royal Commission. What are your initial thoughts about what was released today?
There'd been some expectation that the interim report would be roughly like this. Thus far, there's not really anything hugely critical of intelligence services, security services as recommendations, as opposed to outright criticism or condemnation. There's been talk in the last months about whether the fact that this attack happened, that one of the
Killers, alleged killers, was on the radar of intelligence services a number of years ago, then kind of fell off the radar. There's no mention of that now. That may change as the year goes on. I guess one of the main things that struck me was the concern that the commissioner had around safety for Jewish events.
And a comment that was made that the recent US, or ongoing really, US-Israeli war on Iran increases the chances, I'm paraphrasing, increasing the chances of attacks on Jewish targets in Australia. And that's what we've seen, I think, in other countries around the world. So in general, nothing particularly shocking today, relatively expected, but certainly something worth discussing.
Because I think a lot of things are not being talked about, which I think is part of the problem.
Interesting you mentioned that about the perceived increased threat against Jewish people right around the world. We saw last couple of days there'd been two Jewish people attacked in London. Yeah.
To the degree of authorities taking these recommendations right now and putting plans in place, has there been any mention from the government or authorities that they're taking these recommendations quite seriously even now?
I mean, the short answer is yes, they certainly say they are.
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of the Royal Commission's findings for Jewish safety?
I mean, obviously, since October 7, 2023, there's been huge amounts of federal and state government funding for Jewish organisations, for more Jewish security, armed guards, et cetera, around the country, massive amounts of money.
I would say that there has been far less attention paid to security for Muslim events or mosques, which have also been targeted, but I think it's particularly been given money to Jewish organisations. And we've seen... no question, attacks against Jews in the US, UK, Europe and Australia.
It's worth saying, though, that not every attack against a Jewish person or Jewish institution necessarily is anti-Semitic. Now, I'm not saying that any of them are justified. To be clear, that there is, I think, often a deliberate slippage
made by many Jewish organisations, more hardline pro-Israel forces and many governments to say that any attack on, for example, daubing a car in the eastern suburbs of Sydney that says something like F Israel or is automatically akin to anti-Semitism. Now, I'm not saying that's something I support. I do not. But not necessarily means that that's a threat to Jewish people.
It may make them feel scared or...
uncomfortable and i think some of the debate around this is sort of missing that broader point obviously in london the last 24 hours two people have been stabbed there's no way to see that except for seeming anti-semitism and hatred of course but one of the things that i think is not really being questioned and i fear the royal commission will not really analyze it much at all this year obviously we've still got you know eight or so months to go is
What is the real connection between Israeli actions in the Middle East, Palestine, Gaza and beyond, and attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions when you have the majority of mainstream Jewish organizations supporting Israeli actions? Now, obviously, the caveat to that is no one's justifying, I'm not justifying attacks against Jewish targets. Full stop. Never have, never will.
But it's an important conversation to have because when it comes to mainstream Jewish voices, many of whom have put in thousands and thousands of submissions to the Royal Commission, many of which will be heard in the coming months, they have not principally been heard yet. And there are some more critical...
Jewish Voices, I'm involved with the Jewish Council of Australia and a number of us, not me personally, but a number of us have put in submissions to have a more critical perspective about the pretty undeniable connection and link between Israeli violence against Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians in the Middle East and attacks against Jews or Jewish institutions.
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Chapter 8: How does the guest view the relationship between Israeli actions and antisemitism?
And I fear that that conversation is not really being had, deliberately so, by many in politics and the media.
And in regards to these recommendations specifically, Anthony, we know a number are, from what I can understand, initially 15 recommendations, but a number of recommendations are being kept confidential or not made public. Why?
Good question. I mean, certainly some of the reporting before the announcement today suggested that there has been a number of security services and others not wanting certain information to be released. Now, you can look at that in a benign way. Certain intelligence should not be released publicly. But also, I fear there's a bit of ass covering potentially going on here.
There was a report that came out. last week in the Nine Papers, City Morning Herald and The Age, talking about how some of the security services, this was not mentioned in the interim report today, by the way, but certainly I suspect it'll become part of the conversation as the year goes on, suggesting that the two killers, alleged killers, one obviously is dead and one will be facing trial
that Gaza was radicalising, that they were aligned with Islamic State, that they therefore saw what was happening in Gaza and that somehow radicalised them. Now, that could be true. Of course, we don't really know. It's conceivable.
But I think there's a danger in seeing it in a very black and white way because essentially there are millions of people around the world, including in Australia, who were angry, are angry, outraged by Israeli actions, which doesn't, of course, mean that they pick up guns and shoot people at a Bondi event.
I mean, that sort of goes without saying, but if there is a suggestion or an implication that supporting Gaza, supporting Palestine, as many Jewish people such as myself do, that therefore there is a potential of that leading to violence.
When the vast majority of violence that's been committed in the last two and a half years, not for a second denying the horrors on October 7, but the vast majority of violence has been committed by Israel. against various targets in the Middle East, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. So that's the kind of conversation that I fear is not happening.
And many in the media and politicians don't want to have that conversation. It's much easier as we see in the US and the UK and elsewhere to simply say, A lot of people hate Jews. A lot of people hate Israel. Therefore, everyone is now attacking Jews on the streets and synagogues and attacking them. And of course, there have been attacks.
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