Michaelia Cash: Terror is not to be celebrated in Australia

History can play a powerful role informing us about the present.

Lessons are often learnt and sometimes forgotten. Mistakes of the past are repeated but more than anything, history can place into context what is going on around us today.

Commemorations of the 22nd anniversary of the Bali bombings on Saturday got me thinking about some of the scenes we have seen on the streets of Australia over the past year in relation to the terror attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Bali bombings to this day remain the largest loss of Australian lives from a terrorist attack.

A suicide bomber detonated a bomb in Paddy’s Bar. Survivors fleeing the scene ran towards the Sari Club where a second bomb in a van was exploded by another suicide bomber.

There were 88 Australians among the 202 people of 20 different nationalities who were brutally murdered by Islamist extremists that day in 2002.

Here in WA we probably felt the tragedy harder than anywhere else. Not only did we lose 16 West Australians on that dreadful day, but a place that had been one of our favourite holiday destinations turned into hell.

Many of us knew both Paddy’s Bar and the Sari Club. Thousands of us had been to both.

Many of us knew people or were connected to people who died, were injured or who were there in Bali that night.

At the time, Prime Minister John Howard noted how the tragedy “brought forth heroism, decency and goodness”.

What the tragedy did not bring forth were scenes of celebration and support for terrorists on the streets of Australia. Can you imagine the reaction of decent, law-abiding Australians if there had been?

But those are exactly the scenes that we have seen repeated on the streets of Australia on numerous occasions since the Hamas terror attacks claimed the lives of 1200 innocent Israelis just over 12 months ago.

All Australians have the right to conduct peaceful protests but what we have seen recently by some of those protesters goes much further than protests about a conflict in the Middle East.

There has been direct support for terrorism and terrorists, just like the terrorists who killed those 88 Australians in Bali.

Take for example the remarks made at Lakemba Mosque in Sydney last week by Khaled Beydoun a visiting American professor.

To describe the deliberate massacre of 1200 innocent people as a cause for celebration is truly sickening.

These remarks attribute reward and happiness as coming from terrorism and horror, and in doing so risk inspiring further acts of horror.

Such remarks bring shame to not only the speaker but upon all who applauded or celebrated with him.

At other protest events, the death of slain terrorist Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was mourned and his picture was displayed on banners.

The flags of Hezbollah and Hamas, both listed terrorist organisations have also been displayed on our streets.

This is despite the fact publicly displaying the symbols of a listed terrorist organisation is a crime.

The failure to enforce laws like these in the past year has emboldened extremists and led to Australia’s Jewish community feeling unsafe and unwelcome in their own country.

Any Australian citizen waving a Hezbollah flag should be charged.

Any visitor to our country waving a Hezbollah flag should have their visa immediately cancelled and be deported.

It was disappointing that protesters could not leave October 7 as a day of remembrance for the Jewish community who lost so many of their own when the Hamas terrorists crossed into Israel and went on their murderous rampage.

It was disgusting that some of those so-called protesters turned it into a celebration of terrorism.

These supporters of terrorism have been emboldened by weak and confused leadership by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor Government.

Mr Albanese again last week failed to show the strength of leadership needed to unequivocally support Jewish Australians in the face of unprecedented anti-Semitism in this country.

Coalition leader Peter Dutton wrote to Mr Albanese, urging Parliament to adopt a bipartisan motion commemorating the October 7 terrorist attack.

Despite the proposal being balanced and objective, the Albanese Government dismissed it, opting to push their own motion to Parliament.

In an attempt to walk both sides of the street and pander to domestic political pressures, the Prime Minister inserted language advocating for a ceasefire and de-escalation.

It should have been a moment of unity honouring the 1200 innocent lives lost on October 7.

Instead, the Coalition was compelled to oppose a flawed motion. Later, we moved our own proposed motion as a mark of respect to commemorate the October 7 atrocities

Mr Dutton offered a fair, rational stance, which the Prime Minister rejected for political gain.

This choice has further eroded the Labor Party’s moral credibility and the Prime Minister’s standing with the Australian public.

A Coalition government will restore moral clarity, stand against rising anti-Semitism, and rebuild harmony and social cohesion in our country.

Australia is one of the most successful multicultural nations in the world and we should work hard to keep it that way.

But as I said at the start, history can inform the present and put events into context.

Sadly, some time over the last 22 years since the Bali bombings we have become a country where some amongst us are now willing to openly support terrorism and terrorists.

I don’t believe that is the Australia the vast majority of Australians want in the future.

Michaelia Cash is a Liberal Senator for WA