New Assistant Minister’s controversial past

BOTH the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) and the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) will seek to meet with newly appointed Assistant Minister for Multiculturalism Craig Laundy.

The Reid MP, whose electorate at the time took in the Sydney suburb of Auburn, found himself under fire in December 2014 after making several controversial comments while supporting a motion that recognised the UN International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

He remarked at the time that “if you look at the Middle East and the issues that we as a globe confront today, we can trace it pretty much back to this region some 60 or 70 years ago”, that a two-state solution “is used as a line to hide behind” and that “the people of Palestine have not had a fair go”.

He later told The AJN that he supported a two-state solution and he meant to convey that he would like to see more done.

“I never have, nor will I, place the blame for the range of current issues in the region solely with Israel or any other state,” he said.

Laundy reiterated his support for a two-state solution this week. “Both the Australian government’s and my long-standing position is that we remain committed to Israel and a Palestinian state existing side by side in peace and security, within internationally recognised borders,” he told The AJN.

“As Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs, I very much look forward to working side by side with the Australian Jewish community and building on the wonderful relationships that I have established during my time in Parliament within the community.”

ECAJ executive director Peter Wertheim said the roof body would seek a meeting with Laundy “at the earliest opportunity”.

“Many of our community’s most pressing concerns fall within his portfolio – the recrudescence of anti-Semitism, communal security costs and threats to religious freedoms,” he said. “We hope to persuade the Assistant Minister that comments of the kind he made two years ago are not only untrue but also inflammatory and divisive.

“From the constructive role he played in helping to defeat attempts to weaken our laws against racial vilification, we believe that the Assistant Minister well understands that the responsibility of government is to promote social cohesion, not discord.”

AIJAC executive director Colin Rubenstein said: “While we have certainly had our concerns about Craig Laundy in the past, especially in terms of his poorly informed, one-sided comments on Israel and the Middle East, we look forward to constructively engaging with him in his new role.

“We hope his knowledge of Israel and the broader Middle East, as well as other issues of concern to the local Jewish community, will grow, and anticipate he will both better understand and endorse his government’s commendable policies towards Israel and the peace process.”

He added: “We note … he is on record in supporting the need to retain Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, unlike some of his party colleagues.”

GARETH NARUNSKY