Victoria police report rise in antisemitic incidents since 7 October 2023
Victoria police assistant commissioner Christopher Gilbert told the antisemitism royal commission that police have seen an increase in antisemitic incidents since the Hamas terror attack of 7 October 2023.
Asked if there had been a rise in incidents, Gilbert said his “anecdotal observation is yes” and that “there are some data sources that may indicate that’s the case as well”.
Gilbert has led Victoria’s Southern Metro region since December 2023, covering 10 local government areas and roughly a quarter of the state’s population. He told the inquiry that Operation Park – the overarching operational framework for Jewish and Muslim community safety across Victoria – was central to police resourcing.
double quotation markI would characterise the changes over the last two-and-a-half years as having seen Victoria police deploy far more resources far more often relevant to the safety of the Jewish community.
Gilbert said resourcing has remained high and consistent following major security events.
double quotation markWe were deploying, I think, reasonably against our assessment of threat, but we’ve certainly escalated those deployments … which sees us now deploying [more] than we ever have before.
Since October 2023, police have logged almost 18,000 discrete tasks relevant to community sites of interest – with almost 15,000 of those located in Melbourne’s inner south.
Updated at 03.46 EDT
Key events
Queensland’s domestic violence minister responds to calls to step down over buried report
Queensland’s domestic violence minister Amanda Camm has responded to calls for her to step down amid mounting pressure over revelations the government buried a report by victim-survivors of domestic violence.
Camm commissioned the report, which was heavily critical of police responses and called for a “civilian review mechanism” to escalate complaints about police.
A summary report “developed for broader distribution” was prepared and the working group finished in December. The Guardian has seen the report – you can read our reporting here – and the Labor opposition has called for Camm to be sacked.
Camm responded with a written statement on Wednesday, saying:
double quotation markThe summary report was developed from the final report to protect the identity and safety of working group members.
The intent of the working group was to advise the new government, following the election, and identify and highlight gaps in the system.
The report was released exactly as was promised and intended [sic] to external agencies in May, so they could begin work on delivering reforms to ensure more women are safer sooner.
While Labor had spent a decade failing to deliver real outcomes for domestic violence victims, the intention of the working group was provide victims with a voice directly to a government who for the first time had a focus on delivering genuine outcomes.
Updated at 04.01 EDT
Police database has limitations tracking antisemitic incidents, royal commission told
The inquiry turned to how Victoria police tracks hate crimes, examining whether the force’s primary database (LEAP) adequately flags the specific character of antisemitic or Islamophobic offences.
Assistant commissioner Christopher Gilbert acknowledged that while narrative detail is captured in the system, rapid data extraction remains limited on existing infrastructure.
When asked directly if he believed there was room for improvement in police data collection, Gilbert said:
double quotation markYes, I do.
However, he said police do not rely solely on database metrics to assess risk to the public:
double quotation markI think we’re in a very strong position now …
My view is that we have multiple sources of information relevant to risks to community … Always better data would be an advantage, but I think we have in our possession – in addition to the data that we do have – other material which would actually help us, and it does to this day, to assess risk.
Gilbert highlighted “on the ground relationships” with local synagogues, schools and peak bodies as vital. He said the Community Security Group (CSG) Victoria is a “core community stakeholder” with whom police maintain strong engagement.
Following this public testimony, counsel assisting applied to close the session to discuss confidential details regarding information-sharing protocols between Victoria police and CSG Victoria.
That’s where we’ll leave today’s coverage of the antisemitism royal commission today. We’ll be here to cover tomorrow’s witness testimony.
Updated at 03.51 EDT
Woodside’s North West Shelf extension challenged in federal court
Friends of Australian Rock Art today opened their case challenging the approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf extension in the federal court.
The Australian Conservation Foundation and Fara are this week running concurrent court challenges against the extension’s approval by the federal environment minister, Murray Watt. According to ACF, the project would see about 4bn tonnes of CO2 released into the atmosphere – equivalent to about 10 years of Australia’s annual emissions.
Fara is arguing Watt did not properly identify the risks of the project to the Murujuga Indigenous rock art complex – a landscape of more than a million petroglyphs dating back 50,000 years, including the oldest known image of a human face.
It is also arguing that Watt made errors in the way he considered the economic benefits of the project.
Fara’s legal counsel, Sashi Maharaj KC, told the court that the economic considerations provided by the minister in his statement of reasons for the approval were “shambolic”, and that “the whole statement of reasons is highly unsatisfactory such that the decision is impeachable”.
She said:
double quotation markThis is a clear case where both economic benefits and economic detriments must be considered.
You can’t cherry pick benefits … the balancing exercise is skewed by cherry picking the benefits in the manner the minister has.
The hearing continues.
Updated at 03.43 EDT
Victoria police report rise in antisemitic incidents since 7 October 2023
Victoria police assistant commissioner Christopher Gilbert told the antisemitism royal commission that police have seen an increase in antisemitic incidents since the Hamas terror attack of 7 October 2023.
Asked if there had been a rise in incidents, Gilbert said his “anecdotal observation is yes” and that “there are some data sources that may indicate that’s the case as well”.
Gilbert has led Victoria’s Southern Metro region since December 2023, covering 10 local government areas and roughly a quarter of the state’s population. He told the inquiry that Operation Park – the overarching operational framework for Jewish and Muslim community safety across Victoria – was central to police resourcing.
double quotation markI would characterise the changes over the last two-and-a-half years as having seen Victoria police deploy far more resources far more often relevant to the safety of the Jewish community.
Gilbert said resourcing has remained high and consistent following major security events.
double quotation markWe were deploying, I think, reasonably against our assessment of threat, but we’ve certainly escalated those deployments … which sees us now deploying [more] than we ever have before.
Since October 2023, police have logged almost 18,000 discrete tasks relevant to community sites of interest – with almost 15,000 of those located in Melbourne’s inner south.
Updated at 03.46 EDT
Josh Burns joins condemnation of Hanson’s domestic violence comments
Labor MP Josh Burns has accused Pauline Hanson of “speaking before thinking” after her controversial comments on domestic violence.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Burns said it was “not good enough” that Hanson was “victim-blaming”.
double quotation markIt is a serious matter that too many Australian women face a wicked choice between remaining in a home that is unsafe, or facing financial destitution, financial uncertainty and homelessness.
For someone who is parading themselves as a leader of this country, I think our country is better than victim-blaming and trying to somehow put this on the victims.
Federal Labor member for Macnamara Josh Burns . Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
Updated at 03.26 EDT
A new report into Australia’s employment services sector has revealed that privatised job providers are being used to enrich owners, while failing the very people they are meant to help: unemployed Australians.
An investigation by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) into employment services, which receive $5.5bn in public money each year, has revealed huge companies in the sector lack transparency and use aggressive tax minimisation, large dividend payouts, offshore-related party payments, tax havens, and opaque financial reporting to extract profits from the system.
The report said:
double quotation markIt’s no secret that Australia’s system of privatised employment services has failed.
The Howard-era system fills the pockets of private equity and millionaires, while leaving jobseekers without work.
In May, the federal employment minister, Amanda Rishworth, announced changes to the system, but said for-profit service providers would remain a part of it.
Antipoverty Centre spokesperson Jay Coonan said:
double quotation markThis industry has been draining public coffers for decades now with little scrutiny thanks to their deep connections to political parties and powerful people – that is well documented in the media and on their websites.
This is the government’s largest procurement outside of the defence portfolio, with $5bn a year going to companies who are subject to little oversight while they use welfare penalties to extract profit from poor people.
Updated at 03.23 EDT
Duniam backs tougher laws to block return of suspected Islamic State fighter
Jonno Duniam has echoed opposition leader Angus Taylor’s calls for the federal government to issue temporary exclusion orders to prevent an Australian member of Islamic State from returning home.
It comes after The Australian reported that Australian medical doctor Tareq Kamleh, known as “Dr Jihad”, who was presumed dead, is one of 13 Australian men imprisoned in an Iraqi jail and hoping to return home.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, the shadow home affairs minister dismissed the government’s claims that it is “constrained by the powers and limitations of the temporary exclusion orders regime”.
double quotation markWell, the one option they do have is to revisit the laws we currently have.
“If we need to strengthen the laws to keep someone who, frankly, [made the] decision this individual did to travel to Syria, to support Islamic State, to be a propaganda mouthpiece for them, to, frankly, practice evil in the way he has, I really don’t want him back here. So, I say to the government that if you need to strengthen the laws, bring us into the tent, we will work with you on whatever it takes to strengthen our laws, to keep someone as insidious as that out of our country.
Updated at 03.13 EDT
Duniam condemns Hanson’s domestic violence comments
Shadow home affairs minister, Jonno Duniam, has condemned Pauline Hanson’s comments on domestic violence, calling the interview “rather garbled”.
Appearing on radio in Brisbane this morning, the One Nation leader was asked about men who abuse their partners. She said it was “wrong, but it’s also a two-way street”.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Duniam said:
double quotation markI think we have to be very careful about how we speak when you’re a community leader, when you’re a lawmaker. You need to demonstrate empathy. You need to understand people’s experiences. And I understand the point she’s making about how different people will be affected in different ways, but her conveying of the message she conveyed was very poor and can have a detrimental impact, in my view.
Asked whether he believed women were more often the victims of domestic violence, he said:
double quotation markYes, sure, the stats are there, you can’t argue with those statistics. To try and pretend that it is a case otherwise is a fool’s errand, and doesn’t help deal with the situation.
Shadow home affairs minister, Jonno Duniam, described Hanson’s interview as ‘rather garbled’. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Updated at 02.44 EDT
All homeless people in Wilks Park camp have been offered accommodation, NSW minister says
Following up on earlier reporting on council rangers in the regional town of Wagga threatening homeless residents with $1,100 eviction notices.
NSW housing and homelessness minister, Rose Jackson said:
double quotation markEveryone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of their housing situation.
Our immediate priority is making sure everyone has access to safe accommodation and the support they need.
Every homeless person camped in Wilks Park and Wagga Wagga Beach have been offered accommodation. Not everyone accepts our offers of support, but Homes NSW staff will keep trying.
I’ve always said that hotels and motels should be a last resort. Purpose-built crisis accommodation is always preferable, because it comes with those wraparound supports that help people get back on the path to stable housing.
That’s why we created the $100 million Homelessness Innovation Fund and why we are investing $130 million to build more crisis beds in NSW.
Undoing a decade of neglect in housing and homelessness won’t happen overnight, but we are doing the work, backed by record investment in both housing and homelessness.
Updated at 02.36 EDT
Rebel Wilson wins defamation case brought by co-star after bitter dispute
After a blistering dispute that spanned continents and years, Hollywood A-lister Rebel Wilson has been found not to have defamed her co-star in a series of social media posts, AAP reports.
The Pitch Perfect star was sued by Australian actor Charlotte MacInnes, who played the lead role in Wilson’s directorial debut film The Deb.
Rebel Wilson arrives at the federal court of Australia, in Sydney, in April. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
After the verdict on Wednesday, Wilson thanked the judge and the Australian legal system, saying the process had tested her and reinforced her belief in “standing up for what I believe is right, while continuing to create work that brings people joy”.
Read more here:
Updated at 02.21 EDT
VicPol counter-terrorism chief questioned on synagogue security and data gaps
Acting Cmdr Kelvin Gale, head of Victoria police’s counter-terrorism group (CTG), has outlined gaps in hate crime data collection and event classification during testimony at the antisemitism royal commission.
Questioned by counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC, Gale said CTG does not routinely classify synagogues as “crowded places” under national security guidelines, noting external precincts can fit the definition as people gather and move through them.
He said a “state-led” event status, for example, the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog, is determined by statewide resourcing demands rather than threat levels alone. “It’s not about the risk or the importance,” Gale testified. “It’s about the resourcing commitment.”
There is no automated data tracker for antisemitic or Islamophobic incidents, though Gale noted the Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP) database has a “prejudice-motivated crime” tag officers can use at their discretion. He said accurate data could give police greater confidence when making resourcing decisions.
Gale added that CTG manages the Victoria Police Shield Network, distributing intelligence updates to about 1,000 security managers, including the Community Security Group (CSG), though he could not recall whether CSG representatives attend CTG’s bi-annual Crowded Places Network Forums. Over the past 12 months, CTG has conducted six active armed defender exercises at major public venues, including GMHBA Stadium and Broadmeadow Shopping Centre.
Updated at 02.20 EDT
Greens join calls for greater whistleblower protection
The Greens justice spokesperson, David Shoebridge, has joined calls for greater protection for witnesses involved in royal commissions after revelations that a key robodebt whistleblower was suing her department over alleged threats.
Jeannie-Marie Blake, a Services Australia employee who repeatedly raised concerns about the robodebt scheme, is suing her department for alleged threats she received from superiors before and after explosive evidence to the robodebt royal commission in 2023.
Jeannie Marie-Blake. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/The Guardian
Her lawyers at the Human Rights Law Centre, which runs a dedicated whistleblower support service, say the case raises broader concerns about gaps in protection for public servants giving evidence to royal commissions. A 2022 government review of the royal commissions act previously found it lacked any power to impose a civil penalty on a person who causes detriment to a witness giving evidence to a royal commission.
Shoebridge said Blake’s case showed the need for greater whistleblower protection. He said:
double quotation markFor over four years now the Greens have been pushing for comprehensive whistleblower protections that apply wherever, and whenever, the truth is told in good faith.
This latest example shows why these laws are more needed than ever. It also shows why we need to stop pretending Labor will be better, and instead build an alternative power base in parliament to replace them.
The office of the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, said current laws governing royal commissions already contained strong protection for witnesses. The spokesperson also pointed to reforms passed this year to improve protection from secrecy offences for those providing intelligence and operational information to a royal commission.
Updated at 01.55 EDT
Labor conference to ‘showcase’ party: Albanese
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says Labor’s national conference will “showcase” what he describes as the “greatest political party” in Australia.
Albanese’s ministry met in Adelaide ahead of the start of the conference on Thursday, where MPs, trade unionists and rank-and-file members will gather to thrash out the party’s policy agenda for the next three years.
Anthony Albanese (C) addresses the media on Wednesday with (L-R) Mark Butler, Richard Marles, Andrew Charlton and Chris Bowen. Photograph: Michael Errey/AAP
Gambling reform, fuel tax credits for miners, taxing gas exports, artificial intelligence and Israel and Palestine are among the most contentious issues up for debate, although Labor power brokers don’t expect any repeats of the major flare-ups of the past conference.
Speaking at the start of Wednesday’s ministry meeting, Albanese said:
double quotation markWe’re bringing the national conference here to Adelaide over the next three days. It’s an opportunity for our party membersto have a direct say in the direction of the country and for us to engage.We represent the oldest and greatest political party in Australia. This is our 50th national conference. While other political parties have come and gone, we’ve continued to evolve, develop, we change with the times, and the party conference will reflect that over the coming few days in developing our platform that we’ll continue to take forward.
Updated at 01.58 EDT
Ex-Socceroos captain receives ‘probable CTE’ diagnosis
Former Socceroos captain Paul Wade has revealed he has been diagnosed with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), leading to renewed calls for all players under the age of 12 to be banned from heading the ball.
CTE is a progressive and neurodegenerative brain disease associated with repeated head impacts that can only be diagnosed after death, by autopsy.
There are criteria used in research that may indicate possible CTE but they are not advised for clinical use – the practice of diagnosing “probable CTE” is considered controversial.
The 64-year-old Wade received a diagnosis of probable CTE in late 2025 following the presentation of neurological symptoms and subsequent testing.
Paul Wade (left) and Diego Maradona in Sydney during the 1993 Fifa World Cup. Photograph: Offside/Getty Images
Wade, capped 84 times for Australia, has been told by his neurologist he will likely die because of it. He has spoken up about his experience, saying:
double quotation markFootball gave me so much. It gave me a life, a career, incredible experiences and the privilege of representing Australia.
But I also must be honest about the challenges I now face and the uncertainty that comes with living with a neurodegenerative condition.
I know my memory’s going. And I’ve been told by a number of people I’ve become a little bit short tempered, just snapped a bit.
- AAP
Updated at 03.21 EDT