The Price of Partiality
I relied quite heavily on Google and Gemini for this piece because it’s a sensitive subject, and I didn’t want to get anything wrong. I cop enough abuse as it is.
Since 7 October 2023, the Australian government has frequently cited social cohesion as a national priority. But a critical look at the last 12 months or so suggests that official actions have often worked against this goal. Governments have adopted a lopsided approach that has deepened communal rifts and left many Australians questioning whether the nation’s values truly apply to everyone.
The imbalance began at the highest levels of leadership. While federal leaders offered immediate, relentless and unwavering support for Israel, recognition of Palestinian suffering arrived far too late, with far less noise. This was reinforced by the high-profile meetings and significant security funding that were directed toward Jewish community organisations, while Palestinian-Australian communities remained largely in the shadows.
In New South Wales, Chris Minns showed pro-Israel bias that blatantly oversteps the bounds of neutral leadership. By frequently centring antisemitism in his policy responses while remaining largely silent on the surge of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, the Premier fosters an environment of selective protection. His public condemnation of pro-Palestinian protests, at times using aggressive language to frame peaceful demonstrations as inherent threats to public safety, is a deliberate attempt to delegitimise one side of the domestic debate.
The erosion of trust was further exacerbated by the appointment of Jillian Segal as the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism. While the role was billed as a step toward harmony, it immediately drew scepticism and anger due to Segal’s history of pro-Israel advocacy and close ties to major lobby groups. Eyebrows were raised even within the Jewish community.
The envoy’s focus on a sweeping definition of antisemitism, which critics argue conflates legitimate criticism of the Israeli state with racial prejudice, has created a certain level of fear in civic life. Proposals to report universities or cut funding for cultural institutions have highlighted that the role is being used as a political tool to silence dissent rather than a neutral office to combat racism. Then there’s the issue of her family’s connections and substantial donation to right-wing lobby groups.
She co-signed a joint statement with groups like the Zionist Federation of Australia, condemning Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the Labor government for urging Israel to stop attacking hospitals in Gaza and for supporting a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire. This effectively positioned her against restraints on Israel’s military conduct during the early phase of the Gaza war.
Before her appointment, she held several leadership roles within Jewish community organisations and pro-Israel groups. She did complete a conflict of interest declaration, stating that she has interests that conflict with, or may conflict with, those of the Commonwealth; however, the Department of Home Affairs redacted the specific details of these conflicts, as well as any mitigation strategies, when the form was released under freedom of information laws.
Compounding these concerns is the government’s perceived unwillingness to distance itself from the more aggressive rhetoric of certain lobby groups. Organisations like the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) have frequently used inflammatory language, painting Palestinians and their supporters as extremist or dangerous. When the government fails to condemn such dehumanising generalisations while simultaneously adopting the lobby’s policy priorities, the sense of a “rigged” domestic landscape grows.
The invitation for Israeli President Isaac Herzog to visit Australia served as a powerful symbol of this political closeness. For many Australians, welcoming a head of state while his military was being investigated for war crimes, and while Palestinian-Australians were being denied visas to rescue their own families, exposed a stark double standard. It broadcast a clear message about where the government’s loyalties and priorities lay, regardless of the cost to social harmony.
The disconnect between rhetoric and reality is perhaps most evident in the tightening boundaries of civic space. From university campuses to city streets, the state has increasingly cast pro-Palestinian advocacy as suspect, dangerous or extreme. When institutional panic replaces evidence-based leadership, such as in cases where incidents were framed as antisemitic attacks before the facts were clear, trust in our democratic institutions is the ultimate casualty.
Social cohesion can’t be manufactured through slogans; it requires a foundation of fairness and consistency. By amplifying one community’s trauma while marginalising another’s, Australian institutions have fractured the very fabric they claim to protect. If we are to move forward, the government must move beyond selective concern and return to a policy of shared humanity and equal protection for all Australians.