Tony Burke: attack on a Melbourne synagogue an ‘attack on Australia’
Krishani Dhanji
Home affairs minister Tony Burke says the attack on a Melbourne synagogue is an “attack on Australia”.
Speaking to the media, this morning, Burke has repeated his comment that antisemitism has “no place” in Australia, and says the Jewish community and broader Australian community were “harmed” by the arson attack on Friday night.
“[This] is not simply an arson attack; what matters here is there is an attack on Australia, an attack on Australian values. And we are here today in solidarity to stand together with the community.
This government, including [former attorney-general] Mark Dreyfus in the last term of parliament, has taken the strongest actions Australia has ever taken in making hate symbols unlawful, in making calls for violence and hate speech [to] have serious criminal penalties. But the job of making sure we eliminate antisemitism belongs to every single one of us.
Burke welcomed the arrests that have taken place, and says he’s been briefed twice now by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police, and has spoken to the Victorian police commissioner and home affairs boss.
Burke also met with community leaders and the synagogue’s Rabbi Dovid Gutnick, this morning.
Key events
Mortgage holders could receive their first back-to-back interest rate cuts in more than five years, with Australia’s Reserve Bank widely expected to lower rates.
The central bank’s monetary policy board meeting, which begins on Monday, tops the week’s economic agenda, although Donald Trump’s tariffs could once again roil markets, reports AAP.
The US president paused his sweeping “liberation day” tariffs for 90 days to allow extra time for individual countries to negotiate a better deal.
But with only three agreements struck – with the UK, China and Vietnam – it’s unclear what the White House will decree when the tariff deadline expires on Wednesday, US time.
Given the backdrop of ongoing economic uncertainty and following a softer-than-expected start to the year for the Australian consumer, markets have almost fully priced in a 25-basis-point rate cut from the Reserve Bank on Tuesday.
Krishani Dhanji
Former Labor minister Stephen Jones to be Australia’s next OECD ambassador
Former Labor minister Stephen Jones is going to Paris to become the next Australian ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, in an announcement by foreign minister Penny Wong and treasurer Jim Chalmers.
Jones, a former assistant treasurer and financial services minister in Anthony Albanese’s government, announced his retirement in January, but held on to the portfolios until the election.
At the time, Jones wouldn’t say what he was doing next, after serving as a Labor MP for 15 years.
In a statement, Wong and Chalmers said Jones would bring a “wealth of experience to advancing Australia’s interests at the OECD”.
Netanyahu: ‘reprehensible antisemitic attacks’ in Australia ‘must be uprooted’
As Guardian Australia’s Daisy Dumas posted earlier, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called an attack on a Melbourne synagogue “reprehensible” and demanded Anthony Albanese “take all action” to end similar hate crimes.
You can read more about Netanyahu’s comments here:
Tory Shepherd
Most significant Viking hoard ever found in UK or Ireland has more than one link to Adelaide
In AD900, marauding Vikings buried a hoard of treasure – jewellery, gold, silver and more – in Scotland. It wasn’t until 2014 that it was unearthed.
Metal detectorist Derek McLennan was prospecting in a ploughed field near Dumfries and Galloway when he came across the hoard, which turned out to be the most significant Viking-age collection ever found in the UK or Ireland.
It turns out, the very detector McLennan used (a waterproof, all-terrain CTX 3030, for the cognoscenti) was made by an Australian company based in Adelaide, Minelab.
The Galloway hoard this year made its international debut in Adelaide, in an exhibition still running at the SA Museum.
Krishani Dhanji
Burke has spoken to Israeli ambassador to Australia about the Melbourne synagogue attack
Home affairs minister Tony Burke says the Israeli ambassador to Australia called him on Saturday to thank him for coming to Melbourne immediately.
I had a good conversation yesterday with the Israeli ambassador. He had heard that I was coming today, and rang me to thank me, and he took it as a signal that the government was taking this very seriously.
Because it was Shabbat, my wife, Skye, and I, we hopped on a plane not knowing if we would be welcomed here, not knowing what the community would want … And that’s why I wanted to make sure that I was here in Melbourne, so that if the community decided that they wanted us to come, we were able to facilitate that immediately.
There were three attacks on Friday. Burke says authorities haven’t yet drawn links between them, but he says that it’s clear the attacks were linked to “bigotry”.
He would not say whether it was a “terrorist attack” on the synagogue and says that’s a call for Victorian police.
There’s a link in bigotry, there’s a link in a willingness to either call for violence, to chant violence, or to take violent actions. So they are very much linked in that way. But at this stage, the authorities are still investigating whether or not there is a more formal coordination [of the attacks].
Former attorney-general and senior Jewish MP Mark Dreyfus has joined Burke outside the synagogue, and says he’s “pleased” Burke visited the area so promptly, which he says shows the government is taking the issue seriously. Dreyfus says this should “never happen again”.
Tony Burke: attack on a Melbourne synagogue an ‘attack on Australia’
Krishani Dhanji
Home affairs minister Tony Burke says the attack on a Melbourne synagogue is an “attack on Australia”.
Speaking to the media, this morning, Burke has repeated his comment that antisemitism has “no place” in Australia, and says the Jewish community and broader Australian community were “harmed” by the arson attack on Friday night.
“[This] is not simply an arson attack; what matters here is there is an attack on Australia, an attack on Australian values. And we are here today in solidarity to stand together with the community.
This government, including [former attorney-general] Mark Dreyfus in the last term of parliament, has taken the strongest actions Australia has ever taken in making hate symbols unlawful, in making calls for violence and hate speech [to] have serious criminal penalties. But the job of making sure we eliminate antisemitism belongs to every single one of us.
Burke welcomed the arrests that have taken place, and says he’s been briefed twice now by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police, and has spoken to the Victorian police commissioner and home affairs boss.
Burke also met with community leaders and the synagogue’s Rabbi Dovid Gutnick, this morning.
Woman bitten by animal at Queensland zoo now in stable condition in hospital
After an incident we posted about earlier at Queensland’s Darling Downs Zoo this morning – where a woman was taken to hospital after being bitten by an animal – Queensland ambulance service has said:
Paramedics assessed a female in her 50s with a significant arm injury following an animal bite on Baines Road at 8.23am. Rescue helicopter transported the patient to the Princess Alexandra hospital in a stable condition.
Labor’s Tony Burke, Anne Aly: East Melbourne synagogue fire ‘disgusting and cowardly’
The Australian government’s Home affairs minister, Tony Burke, and multicultural affairs minister, Dr Anne Aly, have released a joint statement on the East Melbourne synagogue fire.
The statement said:
Last night’s arson attack on the East Melbourne Synagogue was disgusting and cowardly.
The fact it took place while people, including children, were having a Shabbat dinner inside, makes it all the more abhorrent.
Home affairs minister, Burke, said:
I condemn last night’s disgusting attack in the strongest possible terms. Australians have a right to feel safe and protected from violence and bigotry.
Multicultural affairs minister, Aly, said:
All Australians have a right to safety. Acts of antisemitism violate that right and should face the full force of the law.
Qld police warn Bakers Bend residents to leave because of chemical fire, south of Charleville
An exclusion zone has been established at Bakers Bend, 20km south of Charleville in Queensland, after emergency services were called to the Mitchell Highway at about 6.30am because of reports that two chemical trailers were on fire.
People are advised to avoid the area and residents within the exclusion zone are advised to leave immediately.
Queensland Police have made an emergency declaration under the Public Safety Preservation Act, established to manage emergencies that pose a significant risk to public safety.
An exclusion zone established at 8.59am encompasses a large section of the Mitchell Highway near the Angellala creek bridge.
Woman hospitalised after animal attack at Qld’s Darling Downs Zoo
A woman has been taken to hospital, after being bitten by an animal believed to be a big cat, at a Queensland zoo, according to ABC news.
Emergency services were called to the Darling Downs Zoo this morning, and the woman was taken to Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra hospital in a stable condition, the report said.
Darling Downs Zoo posted on social media:
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the zoo will be closed all day today.
Netanyahu says Australian government must ‘take all action’ to prevent more antisemitic attacks
Daisy Dumas
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says an antisemitic attack on a Melbourne synagogue is “reprehensible” and demands Anthony Albanese “take all action” to end hate crimes.
Victoria police allege a 34-year-old man entered the grounds of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation on Albert Street at about 8pm on Friday and poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire.
Two other incidents, including an arrest after an incident between protesters and police at a Melbourne CBD restaurant, also took place on Friday night.
“I view with utmost gravity the antisemitic attacks that occurred last night in Melbourne, which included attempted arson of a synagogue in the city and a violent assault against an Israeli restaurant by pro-Palestinian rioters”, Netanyahu said via series of posts on X overnight.
“The reprehensible antisemitic attacks, with calls of ‘Death to the IDF’ and an attempt to attack a place of worship, are severe hate crimes that must be uprooted.
“The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community, and we demand that the Australian government take all action to deal with the rioters to the fullest extent of the law and prevent similar attacks in the future.”
Read more here:
Benita Kolovos
More on Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel due to open in late 2025
Described as the most significant overhaul of the city’s transport network since the City Loop opened in the 1980s, the tunnel has been taking shape beneath the city for the past eight years – with the cost ballooning to $14bn.
Guardian Australia’s Victoria state correspondent, Benita Kolovos, gets a look at the city’s newest train stations.