John Howard urged his successor, Anthony Albanese, to take more action against Jew-hate, as an official report on combating the problem continues to sit on the PM’s desk
December 16, 2025 15:05
A former Australian prime minister has claimed that the promised tightening of gun laws in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack is a “diversion” from tackling the issue of rising antisemitism in the country.
John Howard, who served in office between 1996 and 2007, expressed his concern that, without a comprehensive strategy to tackle Jew-hate, attacks against the community could continue.
His successor, Anthony Albanese, has promised to significantly tighten restrictions on gun ownership following the mass shooting, which left at least 15 people dead.
Proposed changes include a regular review of licenses and limits on the number of weapons individuals can own after it emerged that one of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, was a licensed gun club member and legal owner of six firearms.
The changes, if implemented, would represent the most significant tightening of gun control in Australia since Howard himself cracked down on gun ownership in the wake of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
But, while supporting the new measures “where sensible tightening can occur”, he shared his hope that they would be accompanied by stronger action on antisemitism.
"I do not want this debate post this horrible event to be used, the focus on guns be used as a pretext to avoid the broader debate about the spread of hatred of Jewish people and antisemitism,” he told national broadcaster ABC.
"If the prime minister, immediately after the attack of the 7th of October 2023, had called an all-points cymbals and drum national press conference, convened a meeting of the national cabinet, he could have done that.
"From the beginning, people of the Jewish community would have felt there is somebody on their side. He didn't do that."
Howard also criticised Canberra’s decision to recognise a Palestinian State, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed “poured fuel on this antisemitic fire”, labelling it “needlessly provocative and dumb”.
In the aftermath of the attack, several Australian politicians have called on Albanese to fully implement the recommendations of a report produced in July by the country’s special envoy on combatting antisemitism, South African lawyer Jillian Segal.
At the time the 20-page document was published the government declined to commit to a timeline for full implementation, with the prime minister saying he “wouldn’t like to put a deadline on [it]”.
Its 49 key recommendations included the establishment of a national database for antisemitic incidents, guidance on antisemitism for police forces, schools, courts and government departments, and enhanced media monitoring to crack down on antisemitic misinformation.
But the report had prompted some controversy as it used the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which Australia formally adopted in 2021, as its basis, with some critics claiming it could stifle legitimate opposition to Israel, particularly in universities, which were threatened with the withdrawal of funding if they promote speakers or ideas deemed antisemitic.
According to Albanese, several of the recommendations have already been implemented, including strengthening hate crime laws and the creation of a national student ombudsman to handle complaints in the education sector.
In the wake of the attack, the prime minister said his government is “continuing to work on” implementing the report, adding: “We’ll continue to work with the community to do what we can to stamp [it] out. We want to eradicate antisemitism. That is the objective here.”
However, this did not go far enough to please even some in his own party, with Labor MP Josh Burns telling ABC: “What I’d like to see is a timeline and … an agenda around how, ideally, national cabinet will work together to combat this in all of its different manifestations.”
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