00:00We know that this sub-grouping of the New South Wales membership, known as the Labor
00:08Israel Action Committee, sent a letter to the party's state secretary asking for tougher
00:18action to be taken against what they deem to be anti-Semitic statements.
00:23Now, we don't have the full contents of that letter, but the Australian newspaper has published
00:29extracts from it, ones that include a statement that we believe the party needs to be tougher
00:36about unacceptable comments and conduct.
00:40It goes on, if the party as a whole does not fiercely fight anti-Semitism, we enable it.
00:46So, it was an organised pushback against certain members named, and they would include Bob
00:55Carr, who was cited in the letter, amongst others, including an upper house member of
01:02the party in the New South Wales Parliament.
01:04So, that was the broad thrust of their complaint.
01:08They demanded further action.
01:10Now, the federal minister from Sydney's eastern suburbs in the seat of Kingsford Smith, Matt
01:18Thistlethwaite, he was out and about this morning.
01:21He is a front-bencher these days, but back in the day, Matt Thistlethwaite had also been
01:28a state secretary of the New South Wales branch.
01:31So, he was asked broadly what repercussions there should be, what action should be taken,
01:38in light of any findings of anti-Semitic conduct or comments made by party members.
01:45Here was Matt Thistlethwaite's response.
01:48Anti-Semitism will not be tolerated by any Australian, and that includes members of the
01:55Australian Labor Party.
01:57There is no tolerance at all for any form of anti-Semitism or racism in Australia.
02:05And we will crack down on that, including within the Labor Party.
02:09In recent years, the Australian Labor Party has put in place measures to ensure that every
02:14single member can feel safe and respected in our party.
02:19To do that, we introduced a code of conduct that all members have to abide by, and that
02:26includes a complaints mechanism.
02:28And Greg, what's the government had to say about ongoing demands for a National Royal
02:33Commission into the tragedy?
02:34It's very much holding the line on that today, as it has throughout the past week, and that
02:42is to argue that the actions taken so far are sufficient to get to the bottom of what
02:49was known and or any failings among agencies.
02:53So, Matt Thistlethwaite, acting virtually as a government spokesman, given that so many front
03:00benches are on leave at the moment.
03:03He recited the long list of investigations already underway, including the Richardson Inquiry.
03:12This is to be run by former senior official and one-time ASIO Director-General Dennis Richardson.
03:19It will look at the relationships between federal agencies, principally ASIO and the Australian
03:26Federal Police.
03:27He argues, does Matt Thistlethwaite, that there's a timeliness issue here?
03:33The Royal Commission would take too long, is his argument, which is exactly the one that
03:38Anthony Albanese has also been making for several days in the lead-up to Christmas.
03:44So, no change yet, although the demands for a nationally constituted Royal Commission are
03:52unabated and undiminished.
03:54You would expect that they will continue to resonate for quite some time, notwithstanding
04:00the summer slowdown period over the Christmas New Year break.
04:05So, no change yet from the Federal Government.
04:08Thanks for the update, Greg.
04:09That's Greg Jennet reporting live from Parliament House in Canberra.
