How a right-wing lobby group’s 15-point plan became government policy on antisemitism. Tom Tanuki reports.
SINCE THE RELEASE of the anti-democratic and authoritarian recommendations contained in Jillian Segal's 'Special Envoy 's Plan to Combat Antisemitism', Report, much has been made in some political corners of her husband’s revealed $50,000 donation to hard-line right-wing lobby group, Advance Australia.
To people like me, the reveal would appear to illustrate the precise brand of right-wing Zionist lobby politics that Segal advocated for in her recommendations and reify her lack of commitment to a consistent politics of anti-racism, given Advance’s track record on Indigenous affairs. But to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who’s endorsed the report along with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, our response has been… anti-feminist.
“It's a long time since we've been a country where you would blame a woman for decisions of her husband."
Imagining that women were assigned the role as the head of the household, fit for blame, is a curious inversion of the actual power dynamics of pre-feminist bigotry.
Obviously, we’re all aware that Burke invented this response on the fly to escape a tight moment with ABC journalist Sarah Ferguson. Still, it’s oddly reminiscent of the weird, tired identity-politics powerplays that politicians, pundits and lobbyists wheel out as they steal our rights away under the guise of protecting one, and only one, special form of anti-racism.
Segal simply says she didn’t know about the donation. Yes, a $50,000 donation probably is forgettable for the kind of "anti-racist advocate" who spends $17 million on two adjoining properties to renovate them. But I think that even a charitable reading of this donation suggests that it speaks to the politics of Segal’s household and, more to the point, to their agreeability to the power of lobbyist groups.
It’s Segal’s relationship with lobbyists that I have had on my mind since the reveal of the report.
In February of this year, Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) co-chair Alex Ryvchin announced a 15-point plan to combat antisemitism. It was rolled out in press conferences and at a Sky News Antisemitism Summit, which featured guest spots from bipartisan political leadership. Former Opposition Leader Peter Dutton championed the plan aggressively during his election campaign.
ECAJ’s proposals included declaring a "national emergency", banning student encampments and removing academic freedoms, toughening up the Migration Act to deport those deemed antisemites and more. Even if Ryvchin had for some time been signalling his intention to work with institutions to silence the working class to favour Israeli state interests, I was shocked by the 15-point plan. I described it in this very column space as "fascist".
But the plan was swept aside by the discovery that many violent incidents of antisemitism, which had captured the public’s attention in 2024 and 2025, had been concocted by an organised criminal hoping to use them to barter with state justice and intelligence. The Government’s own preoccupation with locating hidden antisemitism in anti-Zionist activism made it exploitable. ECAJ took a hit. The public grew wary of antisemitic terror talk. Dutton lost in a landslide.
Our attention spans are short and the media climate accommodates that. So I don’t blame people for forgetting the 15-point plan. But it’s crucial to understanding Segal’s report.
I’ve only seen the excellent Abraham Edwards commenting on this thus far. He believes that 12 of ECAJ’s 15 points are contained in Segal’s report, partly or wholly. I would argue that all 15 of them are included, at least in spirit or in part.
Let’s go through the ECAJ plan and see where each point is reflected in the Envoy’s report.
ECAJ:
1. The federal government should declare the existence of a National Emergency and establish a Joint Counter-Terrorism Taskforce led by a single minister to coordinate and mobilise all relevant agencies in the fight against antisemitic terror before we have a major terror attack in this country.
Envoy:
If threats escalate, emergency coordination measures, including a standing joint task force and potential national security declarations, should be considered.
ECAJ:
2. Uniform policing guidelines should be established, and intelligence and law enforcement should be trained in understanding what antisemitism is and how it is expressed so they can identify and prosecute those who commit crimes. This training can be extended to the legal and health professions, and others as necessary.
Envoy:
Ensure that current legislation to counter hateful and intimidating conduct, including that which targets the Jewish community, is – and remains – appropriate, and that those responsible for all stages of law enforcement are working effectively within that legal framework. Equip police, prosecutors, regulatory bodies and the judiciary with a thorough understanding of antisemitism, bringing Australia into line with other jurisdictions that have well-advanced training initiatives.
ECAJ:
3. Antisemitism education should be included within the national curriculum.
Envoy:
With the support of government the Envoy will embed Holocaust and antisemitism education, with appropriate lesson plans, in national and state school curricula, in coordination with government, Catholic and independent school systems.
ECAJ:
4. A public awareness and advertising campaign to debunk the ideology of antisemitism and undermine its appeal, particularly directed at young audiences.
Envoy:
In view of data that shows younger Australians are more likely than older Australians to hold antisemitic views, governments should work with the Special Envoy, in consultation with the Jewish community, to support trusted voices to refute antisemitic views, particularly on social media platforms.
ECAJ:
5. There should be a national ban on encampments; the disruption of lectures by student protesters; and external organisations or individuals orchestrating campus protest activities.
Envoy:
The Envoy will work with government to enable government funding to be withheld, where possible, from universities, programs or individuals within universities that facilitate, enable or fail to act against antisemitism.
[Note: I would argue that proposing complete withholding of government funding to universities is all the Envoy could do in terms of translating the ECAJ’s proposed withdrawal of freedom of expression on university campuses into a policy proposal.]
ECAJ:
6. A judicial inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities, which should include the investigation of foreign funding of student protests.
Envoy:
A commission of inquiry into campus antisemitism, including the sources of funding for organised clusters of antisemitism, should be commissioned by the Federal Government if systemic problems remain in universities by the start of the 2026 academic year.
ECAJ:
7. Universities must disclose all sources of funding from foreign governments and foundations with links to foreign governments or to listed terrorist organisations.
Envoy:
The Envoy will advocate to continue to have the appropriate authorities investigate sources of overseas funding entering public institutions, including universities, which might drive extreme ideologies.
ECAJ:
8. There needs to be legislation to overcome restrictions on disciplinary action against academics who support violence or vilify students.
Envoy:
Working with government and grant authorities, the Envoy will, where possible, establish that all public grants provided to university centres, academics or researchers can be subject to termination where the recipient engages in antisemitic or otherwise discriminatory or hateful speech or actions.
[Note: Again, I argue that ‘withdrawal of funding’ is Segal’s ‘reasonable’ concession to ECAJ’s anti-democratic call to terminate academic freedoms at Australian universities.]
ECAJ:
9. Religious and other charitable institutions should have their charity status and all funding revoked if they promote racism – including antisemitism – or display terrorist symbols.
Envoy:
Remove deductible gift recipient status from any charitable institution which promotes speakers or engages in conduct that promotes antisemitism.
ECAJ:
10. Greater scrutiny of the sources and use of funds administered by charities to ensure that they are not used to support terrorism or carry out activities outside of their charitable purpose.
Envoy:
Ensure that public funding to cultural institutions, artists, broadcasters and individuals is not used to support or implicitly endorse antisemitic themes or narratives.
ECAJ:
11. Immigration officers must be trained to recognise antisemitism and to assess whether applicants have promoted antisemitism which would disqualify them under the character test. This is particularly relevant for those seeking entry from places with pervasive antisemitic education.
Envoy:
The Envoy will provide antisemitism training to staff within the Department of Home Affairs and all those involved in processing visa applications.
ECAJ:
12. The Migration Act should be enforced or, if necessary, amended so that antisemitic conduct is grounds to refuse a new visa or cancel an existing visa.
Envoy:
The Envoy will advocate to government to:
• Screen visa applicants for antisemitic views or affiliations, consistent with a risk-based approach.
• Ensure the Migration Act (and associated decision-making and review processes) effectively facilitates visa refusals or cancellations for antisemitic conduct and rhetoric.
ECAJ:
13. Introduction of Algorithms Regulation legislation as a national security Counter Foreign Interference priority. This legislation would target hostile dictatorships.
Envoy:
Increase transparency of moderation decisions and establish regulatory parameters for algorithms.
ECAJ:
14. Government grants to festivals and individuals should come with a condition that the recipient does not spread racism and that grants can be revoked.
Envoy:
Include terms in all public funding agreements with cultural institutions or festivals to allow for the efficient termination of funding where the institution or festival promotes, facilitates or does not deal effectively with hate or antisemitism.
ECAJ:
15. There must be a balance of representation on literary and cultural festival boards and among senior staff responsible for programming choices.
Envoy:
Encourage and assist Australian cultural institutions to re-engage with Jewish creatives and members of the Jewish community.
We were warned. Before the report was even released, The Guardian’s Josh Butler shared sources inside the Labor Party and the Jewish community who said, “they expected at least some of Segal’s recommendations would be influenced by [ECAJ’s] 15-point plan”. That’s not a surprise — we know that Ryvchin and Segal have a strong relationship – having appeared together often – and Segal was a past ECAJ president.
But this isn’t an ECAJ influence on "some" of Segal’s recommendations. Every single authoritarian demand of the hardline Zionist lobbyist group was accounted for in the policy recommendations made by a special government appointee.
To put it another way: without the direct input of ECAJ’s contributions, the Report would contain very little. The only other recommendations it makes include fluff like speaking to sports organisations, encouraging inter-faith dialogue and supporting Jewish cultural festivals. It makes a standalone demand to enshrine the IHRA definition in Australian institutions across the board, but as that is also a running ECAJ demand, it's no different. All the meat of the report is taken from ECAJ’s work.
This is an astounding instance of a special government appointee who appears to be completely captured by a lobbyist group. It contains no footnotes, relies on discredited ECAJ antisemitism reports for its "data" and delivers sweeping undemocratic demands with no justification.
I’m not even sure how Segal can claim the report is her own. She ought to put Ryvchin’s name on it and resign. No government can accept the report as it is and remain credible.
Tom Tanuki is an IA columnist, writer, satirist and anti-fascist activist whose weekly videos commenting on the Australian political fringe appear on YouTube. You can follow him on Twitter/X @tom_tanuki.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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