Coalition's royal commission bid into anti-Semitism a stunt

The Coalition's education spokeswoman, senator Sarah Henderson's proposed bill to establish a royal commission to assess the "incidence of anti-Semitic activity" during recent student campus protests and whether universities could have managed matters better, could be construed as being nothing more than a political stunt.

Some have seen it as designed primarily to embarrass the Albanese government's allegedly weak stance on anti-Semitism and to exploit division within the Labor Party on Israel. It has the added bonus of drawing attention to the universities' possible inadequacies in protecting freedom of speech and the safety of Jewish students.

The proposed Commission of Inquiry into Anti-Semitism at Australian Universities Bill has now been referred to the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee for consideration. It is due to report by October 4.

Of course, even if the bill gains support and is passed in the Senate, such a royal commission will not happen.

Senator Henderson and the coalition know from the Morrison government's rejection of Kevin Rudd's failed public petition in 2021 to establish a royal commission into media concentration, that only executive government, not parliaments or citizen petitions, establish royal commissions.

So, regardless of the veracity of the claims of anti-Semitism and the harm Jewish students may have experienced from the protests or that universities failed in their duties, no royal commission will be appointed to verify these complaints unless the Albanese government wants it. And the Albanese government doesn't.

Having a high-profile royal commission cross-examining students, academics and university leaders in open public hearings, could expose embarrassing prejudices, that some students were personally and even physically harmed and that the universities were lax. Such a royal commission could further fracture already tense relations between the Albanese government and the universities sector caused by the government's new cap on international student numbers.

Nevertheless, regardless of the coalition's motives, not at all unusual for an opposition, there might also be more legitimate reasons for calling for this royal commission.

First, a royal commission could check media and the other sometimes confusing reports as to whether anti-Semitic behaviour occurred on campuses or not. It could perform what royal commissions often do so well - establish the facts about an issue and allocate responsibility. Anti-Semitism is abhorrent. We need to know if it is occurring. If the royal commission confirms it is, the problem must be urgently addressed.

It is royal commissions' statutory coercive powers of investigation and ability to call and cross-examine witnesses, access files, that make them so effective in confirming the facts about an issue, in informing us what happened. Recent commissions into banking, aged care, disability and calami- tous events show this over and over.

Second, royal commissions, with their outside members and public hearings and reports, are now one of the few bodies in our increasingly politicised world, that are seen as being independent from government manipulation. The Coalition's bill seeks to further ensure this by proposing this royal commission is chaired by a current, or as is now the usual case, a former member of the judiciary.

There are no real alternatives to a royal commission to address this sensitive issue.

A parliamentary committee would be divided by partisanship and distracted by politics. The Australian Human Rights Commission is a possibility, but as Senator Henderson claims it "has sat on its hands or worse" on this issue and "Jewish Australians simply do not have faith in an inquiry led by the AHRC". Such perceptions cannot be ignored. They undermine the legitimacy of any such review.

Nor would the Commonwealth Department of Education or the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency suit. Despite their professionalism, they would be seen as being too close to government. Moreover, they lack a royal commission's powers of investigation and experience to conduct such reviews.

So, a royal commission, remains the only alternative - it is the institution of last resort when nothing else will do to investigate this sensitive and politically charged issue that involves human rights, liberties, student safety, the integrity of our universities and perhaps even, Australia's international reputation.