National cabinet meets over antisemitic attacks – as it happened​on January 21, 2025 at 8:05 am

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Here are the day’s main stories:

• National cabinet met to discuss antisemitism after a Sydney childcare centre was set alight.

• NSW police announced a series of arrests over alleged antisemitism, and the AFP revealed it was investigating whether there were overseas links to incidents.

• A second child died after a house fire in Tasmania.

• Queensland launched an inquiry into “Australia’s worst paedophile”.

• The Bureau of Meteorology warned of a heatwave set to hit Western Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory and NSW in coming days.

• Australia should be “realistic” about Donald Trump’s America First agenda, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, said.

• The NSW transport minister, Jo Haylen, confirmed that negotiations with rail unions had failed, meaning the government will proceed with a case before the Fair Work Commission to end a long-running industrial dispute.

Enjoy the rest of your evening. We will see you again on Wednesday.

Kershaw said that Special Operation Avalite was targeting high-harm antisemitism and the AFP-led Operation Ardvarna investigated the display of prohibited symbols. He said both operations had made arrests and more were expected soon.

Avalite received 166 reports since it was established in December last year, but Kershaw said many of those reports were duplicates, already under investigation by state police, or did not meet the threshold of a crime.

Avalite was investigating 15 serious allegations, he said.

All lines of inquiry are open to the investigations – including what anonymising technology, such as dedicated encrypted communication devices, have been used to commit these crimes.

We are looking into whether overseas actors or individuals have paid local criminals in Australia to carry out some of these crimes in our suburbs.

We are looking at if – or how – they have been paid, for example in cryptocurrency, which can take longer to identify.

We are looking into whether any young people are involved in carrying out some of these crimes, and if they have been radicalised online and encouraged to commit antisemitic acts.

Kershaw said he would meet with state police commissioners on Wednesday.

The AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, has revealed his officers are investigating if “overseas actors” are paying local criminals to commit acts of antisemitism, which he described as a “disease” that “needs to be aggressively attacked”.

Kershaw, who said there was no doubt antisemitism was escalating and that it was having an impact on social cohesion “and crime in general”, also revealed that there were 15 serious incidents under investigation.

Kershaw’s statement was published about the same time as he addressed a national cabinet meeting on the issue.

He said:

Antisemitism is a disease in our community, and it needs to be aggressively attacked because history shows what happens when action is not taken against those who fuel fear and terrorise others.

I know many people feel they want more action to go with words.

The snap national cabinet meeting on antisemitism has ended, but seemingly without a great deal of news or new initiatives.

The only new initiative, according to a statement shared by Anthony Albanese’s office, is “a new national database to track antisemitic crime and other antisemitic incidents and behaviours”.

“The commonwealth will work with states and territories on the development of the database,” Albanese said.

“The purpose of one national reporting system is to better inform and coordinate responses to antisemitic incidents.”

The statement says that state and territory leaders were “united in working together to stamp antisemitism out – and keep it out”. The meeting heard from the AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, who earlier gave an update that its Operation Avalite targeting antisemitism had received 166 reports, with 15 under investigation.

The statement goes on to outline that 36 people had been charged with “antisemitic related offences” in NSW, and 70 arrests had been made in Victoria.

“The prime minister reaffirmed that the full resources of the AFP and federal intelligence agencies stand ready to assist the efforts of Strike Force Pearl, Operation Shelter and Operation Park, and actions by other state and territory governments, as has been occurring to date,” Albanese’s statement said.

The meeting also agreed that “commonwealth, state and territory attorneys general will work to ensure best practice is shared across jurisdictions with Victoria and New South Wales leading this work”.

“The prime minister, state premiers and chief ministers unequivocally condemn antisemitism and reaffirmed to stamp it out in Australia.”

A spokesperson for the NSW transport minister, Jo Haylen, has confirmed that negotiations with rail unions have failed, meaning the government will proceed with a case before the Fair Work Commission to end a long-running industrial dispute.

A hearing in the case is expected tomorrow.

The spokesperson said:

Unfortunately despite best efforts over the last two days, the government has not been able to reach agreement with the combined rail unions.

The government has put a reasonable package in response to the combined rail unions.

That package has not been accepted but remains available.

The government is continuing with the 424 application to be heard tomorrow.

NSW police double size of strike force investigating antisemitism

The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, has announced she has doubled the number of officers investigating antisemitic incidents in Sydney.

She said in a statement:

Today I have allocated an additional 20 investigators to Strike Force Pearl. This effectively doubles the investigative capacity of Strike Force Pearl, which continues to work tirelessly to identify and arrest those responsible for the recent antisemitic incidents in Sydney and put them before the courts.

I have also significantly increased proactive taskings aimed to disrupt this type of criminal activity around significant sites and places of worship across Sydney.

This boost in resources allocated to Strike Force Pearl reflects the seriousness of these crimes and the importance of putting those responsible before the courts as soon as possible. These acts are despicable and have no place in our society.

We’re still waiting on updates out of national cabinet, but there has been some other news in the meantime, so we’re firing this back up.

National cabinet is meeting at 5pm, and we will bring you updates as soon as we can. We will pause the blog in the meantime. See you soon!

And here’s a video from NSW police regarding the arrests we mentioned earlier for alleged antisemitic incidents:

NSW police have charged eight people with 59 offences in relation to a spate of alleged anti-Israel and antisemitic incidents in Sydney in recent months.

One of those people was 34-year-old Tammie Farrugia, who appeared before court today after she was charged in relation to an incident in Woollahra in December which saw a home spray-painted with anti-Israel graffiti, and a car set alight.

Farrugia has been charged with participating in a criminal group to contribute to criminal activity and destroying or damaging property. She will appear before court again on 5 February and has made no application for bail.

It comes after a childcare centre in Sydney’s east was vandalised with antisemitic graffiti that read “Fuck the Jews” and was set alight. It is the sixth antisemitic attack in Sydney in two months, with counter-terrorism police called in to investigate after a Sydney synagogue was spray-painted with red swastikas earlier this month. There have also been previous attacks on synagogues and suburban streets in Sydney.

NSW police said in a statement on Tuesday that eight people had been arrested under Strike Force Pearl, which was set up in the wake of a spate of antisemitic and anti-Israel graffiti. This included:

• Three men – 20,19 and 21 – have been charged after 10 vehicles and buildings were allegedly deliberately damaged in Woollahra in November 2024.

• Four men – 31, 27, 40 and 26 – have been charged following allegedly suspicious fires at two businesses in Bondi in October 2024.

Commissioner says Guardian inquiry shows ‘inadequacy’ of Australia’s approach to slavery

On Monday, we revealed that thousands of imports were coming into Australia from Chinese companies blacklisted in the US over their alleged links to forced Uyghur labour.

Former Labor minister and Australia’s new anti-slavery commissioner, Chris Evans, has issued a strong statement about the Guardian’s findings.

Evans said the revelations demonstrate “the inadequacy of Australia’s current approach to addressing modern slavery risks in supply chains”.

While the government’s commitment to reform is welcome, the pace of implementation remains concerning given the serious nature of these human rights violations.

Many businesses have been asking for clearer guidance to help address this issue. No business can address this level of complexity alone. However, these findings show many are simply ignoring the facts, relying on outdated strategies that are not fit for purpose. Clearly, both government and business must do more and we must start now.

Evans was appointed last year and commenced his role last month. The government has committed to reforming modern slavery laws, including to consult on a model allowing it to make written declarations that particular regions, industries, products or suppliers are regarded as high-risk for modern slavery.

Teacher’s aide charged with allegedly engaging in child prostitution

A teacher’s aide in NSW has been charged with allegedly engaging in child prostitution.

Police will allege in court the man met children online who he paid to film them engaging in sexual acts with him. Police will also allege he had a number of fraudulent online profiles which he would use to extort young children.

Last September, officers commenced an investigation into the activities of an 18-year-old Picton man.

On 24 November, detectives executed a search warrant in Picton and allegedly located and seized electronics relevant to the investigation.

About 8.45am today, detectives returned to the address and arrested an 18-year-old man. He was taken to Narellan police station and charged with two counts of acting as a client with a child aged 14-18 in prostitution, producing child abuse material and possessing child abuse material.

He was refused bail to appear in Moss Vale local court today. Police said investigations continue.

Jewish group backs national cabinet meeting on antisemitism

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has welcomed the announcement of today’s snap national cabinet meeting on antisemitism, calling for a “whole of government approach” to the issue.

Anthony Albanese is convening state and territory leaders at 5pm AEDT. We’ll expect some news shortly after that meeting. ECAJ co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said the Jewish community wanted to see concrete action, and noted his peak community group had been calling for such a meeting since late 2024. He said in a statement:

We welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement today that he will be convening the National Cabinet to deal with the crisis of antisemitism in Australia. This is a step which we called for in early December.

It is deeply saddening that the announcement comes in the wake of an arson attack on a child care centre. We look forward to National Cabinet providing Federal, State and Territory governments with the leadership and direction needed for them to attack the problem of antisemitism with a co-ordinated whole of government approach.

ECAJ in December had called for uniform policing guidelines, law reform and public campaigns on antisemitism, including asking police to enforce existing laws on protests at schools and places of public worship.

The group also urged tougher bail and sentencing laws for antisemitic offences, as well as urging mandatory education against antisemitism, hatred and extremism in schools.

A 5-year-old girl who was involved in a fatal house fire in Tasmania has died, authorities have confirmed.

The girl’s 22-month-old sister died on Sunday after the fire at Rokeby.

The Tasmania fire service and Tasmania police said in a statement that:

Our thoughts are with the girls’ family and loved ones at this difficult time.

A 30-year-old remains in a stable condition in the Royal Hobart hospital.

A 16-month-old, 10-year-old, and 14-year-old have been discharged from hospital, police said.

A fire investigation has determined there were no suspicious circumstances regarding the fire, which started in the lounge room.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner who will determine the cause of the deaths.

You can read more on the fire here: