The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has visited the south-east Melbourne synagogue that was the scene of an arson attack last week and is now being investigated as a terrorist incident. Mr Albanese told locals he stands with them against anti-semitism.
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00:00The Prime Minister was warmly welcomed by leaders when he arrived, but by the time he
00:06had left he was heckled by members of the public.
00:09The Prime Minister arrived at the synagogue and talked to leaders.
00:12He also talked to one person who was inside the synagogue at the time of the Assad attack
00:17and the Prime Minister said that that was horrific.
00:20He then donned a kippah, the traditional Jewish hat, and went inside to the synagogue and
00:24had a look at the damage.
00:26And then he came out a short time later and made a statement showing his support for the
00:31Jewish community.
00:32I'm very proud as Prime Minister on behalf of the Australian people to stand with Adas
00:38Israel, this community, here today.
00:42This arson attack is an act of terrorism, it was fuelled by anti-Semitism and it was
00:49stoked by hatred.
00:51We're a country that needs to come together and unite.
00:54The Prime Minister is speaking there outside the Melbourne synagogue and Joe, he also
00:59committed to financial support for the synagogue.
01:01He said that whatever his government has to do to rebuild it, he will be willing to adhere
01:07to that.
01:08He said that it would send a message to the perpetrators of the arson attack that they
01:12would have no benefit from this and also send a message that this is not tolerated in Australia.
01:17The Prime Minister finished by saying that he will continue to meet with Jewish community
01:22leaders to see what more further practical steps can be taken to help them in this fight
01:27against anti-Semitism.
01:28But Joe, as you'll see, as he left the scene, there were some hecklers who were clearly
01:33not happy with his appearance and the timing of it.
01:37You are late.
01:38You are late.
01:39You've let this happen, buddy.
01:45So Joe, that criticism, you're too late from that heckler, has been not the only person
01:49who's been saying that to the Prime Minister.
01:51He's been criticised for his response to this issue.
01:54Of course, yesterday he was in Canberra and announced Operation Averlight, which will
01:58be Australian Federal Police counter-terrorism investigators, a team formed there to crack
02:03down on violence against anti-Semitism.
02:07And that team will be deployed around the country to try to crack down on that.
02:12But the criticism has been that that really could have been brought upon several months
02:16earlier.
02:17Jewish leaders have said that the rise in anti-Semitism has been happening for months
02:21and that it was only a matter of time before this led to violence.
02:24And of course, this is the third arson attack.
02:27And there was also an arson attack on the office of Jewish Australian and Labor MP Josh
02:32Burns and also a firebombing of cars in Sydney's eastern suburbs at Wallara.
02:38And there was also graffiti on those cars, anti-Israel graffiti.
02:42So Joe, this is a message that the Prime Minister has been also hearing from the opposition
02:47leader Peter Dutton.
02:48He has accused the Prime Minister of showing weak leadership and that that has led to or
02:53been a factor in this anti-Semitism, the rise of this in Australia.
02:57And Peter Dutton has been very critical of him of that.