Victorian Premier Announces New Security Funding for Jewish Community at Parliament Chanukah Event
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced a new package of security and support funding for the Jewish community during the annual Chanukah at Parliament event, held this week against the painful backdrop of the Bondi terror attack.
Speaking at State Parliament, Premier Allan described the attack in stark terms. “This attack was targeted. It was intentional. It was antisemitic. It was terrorism. People were murdered because they were Jewish,” she said. “There is no explanation that softens that truth.”
The event was organized by Chabad of Melbourne CBD together with St Kilda Shule and drew leaders from across the political spectrum, including Opposition Leader Jess Wilson, Supreme Court Justice Ian Waller KC, and numerous MPs. Media personality Peta Credlin served as MC, while Justice Waller lit the Chanukah candles. St Kilda Rabbi Yaakov Glasman addressed the gathering, and Cantor Brett Kaye led the singing.
Premier Allan announced additional funding for the Community Security Group to strengthen protection at Jewish events, school holiday programs, cultural gatherings, and youth summer camps. The package also includes expanded counseling support through Jewish Care, along with funding for the Jewish Community Council of Victoria and the Rabbinic Council of Victoria.
“Antisemitism is a cancer, and it cannot be ignored. It cannot be excused,” Allan said. “But we know that when it is confronted, it can be stopped, and that is our responsibility.”
Acknowledging the deep grief in the room, the Premier noted that many in attendance personally knew victims of the attack. “They were colleagues, friends, leaders, members of your faith and your community,” she said, thanking the organizers for having the strength to proceed with the Chanukah gathering despite the tragedy.
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson described the Bondi attack as “one of the darkest days in Australia’s history” and said the message she heard from Jewish leaders earlier this week was unequivocal: “Words alone are not enough. We need meaningful action to ensure the safety of the community.”
Wilson also warned that security measures alone cannot solve the problem. “We must be honest with ourselves that antisemitism has become normalised in our country over the last two years,” she said, adding that “higher walls and more security patrols are not the answer to the fundamental and underlying poison that is antisemitism.”
Contrasting her own experience attending other faith events, Wilson said, “Jewish mothers should not have to walk past armed guards to drop their kids off at school… This is not an acceptable set of circumstances in Australia in 2025.”
She pledged bipartisan support for decisive action, stating, “I have offered my full support to the Premier and her government in any action they seek to take.”
Both leaders closed by invoking the message of Chanukah. “As we light the menorah, we reaffirm our commitment in words and in actions. The Jews in Victoria do not stand alone,” Allan said.
Wilson echoed the sentiment, pledging to work “toward an Australia where our Jewish community can once again walk in light without fear.”
