September 20, 2024
Opening statement from Dr Matthew Brown, Deputy Chief Executive, The Group of Eight
The Group of Eight unconditionally rejects all forms of hate and prejudice which are absolutely unacceptable and puts our social cohesion as a nation at risk.
We are deeply concerned about the increase in antisemitism since 7 October last year across the community and empathise with the distress and trauma caused in our Jewish community by the events of October 7 and their aftermath.
There is no place in our society for antisemitism or any other form of racial or religious intolerance.
As stated in our submission we agree with ASIO's assessment - that there are warning signs across society - social cohesion is under threat - young people are being radicalised well before they get to university - and we need to deal with this at a societal level.
We've seen protests in the community, protests at schools, at Parliament House and on university campuses. Tensions escalated on campuses and in the community - that's something we're not used to seeing often in this country.
The Go8 recognises that universities – as educators of future generations – play a key role in protecting and supporting a tolerant and cohesive society.
At the same time, we must uphold a fundamental pillar of a healthy democracy and respect the rights of the Australian people - including students, staff and other members of the university community – to express their views through peaceful protest and lawful freedom of speech.
Universities have both a moral and legislative requirement to protect freedom of speech and academic freedom.
As we have stated repeatedly – the right to protest comes with the responsibility to act peacefully and within the law and university codes.
As a society we need to learn how to hold conflicting views and engage in debate without breaking legal, civil or behavioural boundaries.
In practice it is not simple to determine where those boundaries lie. These are very complex issues. And they are global issues.
Countries around the world - and their universities – are facing the same challenges to social cohesion we are. Fortunately, Australia avoided the scenes we saw on campuses around the world - the violence and police action that played out in the US wasn't replicated here.
For our part, Go8 members put procedures in place to avoid the escalation of tensions on campus as we have seen overseas.
All Go8 universities committed to a Statement of Principles on Demonstrations on Campus affirming our commitment to upholding the rights of expression and peaceful assembly while rejecting any form of hate or prejudice.
We co-authored and committed to the Berlin Statement, a confirmation from the world's Global Research-Intensive Universities Network – that we strive to be places where freedom of speech and academic freedom is upheld but where antisemitism and racism in all forms is never tolerated.
Universities are a reflection of society. We need to take a genuine look at the causes and drivers endangering our social cohesion both on and off campuses.
The Go8 is committed to continuously improving how it deals with antisemitism and will work closely with the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism in doing so.
