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RR RUEHPT
DE RUEHBN #0022/01 0650317
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050317Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL MELBOURNE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4681
INFO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3372
RUEHPT/AMCONSUL PERTH 1408
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY 1951

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MELBOURNE 000022 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV AS
SUBJECT: SPECIAL ENVOY FOR MONITORING AND COMBATING 
ANTI-SEMITISM GREGG RICKMAN'S VISIT TO AUSTRALIA 
 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating 
Anti-Semitism Gregg Rickman and Foreign Affairs Officer Karen 
Paikin visited Australia January 21-28 to learn about the 
incidence of anti-Semitism in Australia.  Interlocutors from 
government, law enforcement and the Jewish community 
acknowledged that an increased number of recorded acts of 
aggression perpetrated by louts or members of extremist 
groups against Jews merited action.  Nevertheless, some 
Jewish community members assured Rickman that they enjoyed 
excellent relations with government and the law enforcement 
community, participated enthusiastically in both private and 
state-sponsored interfaith dialogue initiatives, and saw no 
evidence of pervasive anti-Semitic sentiment in mainstream 
Australian society.  Jewish groups told the Special Envoy 
that while they chronicle every incident against Jews, they 
report to the authorities only those crimes that can 
reasonably be prosecuted.  Rickman strongly advocated 
reporting all incidents to the authorities. End Summary. 
 
MORE RECORDED INCIDENTS 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In some of his meetings, based on questions from the 
interlocutors as to what he would do with the information 
gleaned in Australia, Rickman informed interlocutors that he 
will testify before Congress on February 7 to render account 
of his activities, in connection with the publication of 
several reports, including the International Religious 
Freedom and Country Human Rights Reports.  He met with a 
broad cross-section of Jewish leaders in Melbourne and 
Sydney, who gave various opinions on where they believe 
anti-Semitism is coming from in Australia.  Many in Sydney 
attributed the incidents to small, disorganized extremist 
groups broadly identified as right-wing neo-Nazi extremists, 
Muslim radicals, or left-wing anti-Israel intellectuals. 
Some also described many of the attacks as isolated incidents 
of anti-social behavior.  In Melbourne, the Victorian Police, 
state government officials and many of the Jewish community 
leaders attributed the majority of anti-Semitic incidents to 
a "growing yobbo (hooligan) culture."  One thing was clear; 
there was no definitive answer as to who was primarily 
responsible.  Executive Council of Australian Jewry President 
Robert Goot insisted, however, that mainstream Australians 
reject anti-Semitism as "rat-bag" behavior, and that it is 
not part of Australian culture. 
 
STATE GOVERNMENTS ARE RESPONSIVE 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) When meeting with government officials Rickman 
prefaced his remarks by saying he came in friendship, but was 
disturbed to learn from the Executive Council of Australian 
Jewry's 2007 report of the growing number of recorded 
incidents of violence against Jews.  In general, government 
officials and law enforcement representatives acknowledged 
that the aggregate total of isolated incidents of 
anti-Semitism had increased, and merited continued action by 
the authorities on several fronts to curb them.  Rickman 
asked for an account of what the authorities were doing to 
curb such incidents.  The Victorian Minister assisting the 
Premier on Multicultural Affairs, for example, gave Rickman a 
page-long list of actions that the Victorian government had 
taken not only to prevent violence against but also uphold 
the civil rights of all minority communities, not just Jews. 
The Victorian Police followed a similar line, noting that 
their efforts were to protect all citizens, and professed to 
have good communication and ties with the Jewish community. 
Victoria's Deputy Police Commissioner reported that the force 
had no record of hate crimes perpetrated against Jews, and 
characterized the 2007 alleged assault of Victorian Jewish 
community member Menachem Vorchheimer as the work of drunken 
louts.  Rickman pressed the Deputy Police Commissioner about 
what actions were being taken against the off-duty policeman 
who drove the bus whose passengers had allegedly beat 
Vorchheimer.  The Deputy Commissioner responded that, 
although he was not privy to details of the investigation, he 
could report that the Victorian police equivalent of internal 
affairs was following up on the case.  Following the meeting 
with the Victoria police, Rickman reported a number of 
complaints about their conduct and effectiveness. 
 
COMMUNITY RELATIONS IN VICTORIA 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Nonetheless, Jewish leaders in Melbourne generally 
applauded their relationships with State government and law 
 
MELBOURNE 00000022  002 OF 002 
 
 
enforcement.  Gavin Queit of the Jewish Community Security 
Group reported to Rickman that he enjoyed "excellent 
relations" with the Victorian Police.  Anton Block, head of 
the Victorian Jewish Community Council, noted the Victorian 
government's recognition of the growing number of 
anti-Semitic incidents and praised them for several 
initiatives to promote "racial and religious tolerance," 
including the Multi-Faith Leaders Forum and the Multicultural 
Youth Forum.  Colin Rubenstein, Executive Director of the 
Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), and Manny 
Waks, Executive Officer of the Anti-Defamation Commission 
(ADC), also cited the multifaith forums as positive examples 
of state government's action, and noted in their meetings 
with Rickman that there were effective communications 
channels existing with the Victorian police. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  In the ADC meeting Manny Waks explained that his 
organization did not report all incidents to the Victorian 
police, for example, name calling.  The Special Envoy 
strongly advocated reporting all anti-Semitic incidents to 
the authorities.  On Rickman's advice the ADC subsequently 
reported an incident of verbal abuse to a pregnant Jewish 
woman and her two children aboard a bus.  The Victorian 
police logged the case as an incident of anti-Semitism.  The 
case is now working its way through Melbourne's judicial 
system. 
 
AND IN NEW SOUTH WALES 
---------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The New South Wales (NSW) Police Force established a 
community contact group in 2007 responsible for liaising with 
communities that both emanate and are victims of attacks.  In 
the same year, the police force established its first-ever 
Hate Crime Coordinator as a one year experimental position, 
focused exclusively on improving police action against hate 
crimes.  The Hate Crimes coordinator, Sergeant Geoff Steer, 
explained to Rickman that he has focused on developing a 
program that will train police to recognize and document hate 
crimes.  Although state and federal anti-discrimination laws 
are relatively weak and rarely used to prosecute offenders, 
Steer said, the NSW state parliament passed new legislation 
in 2007 that includes provisions that allow judges to 
increase sentences for crimes aggravated by discrimination. 
In their conversations with Rickman, members of the Jewish 
community in NSW commended their relationship with the NSW 
law enforcement community.  In late 2007, every police 
officer assigned to situations that cover Sydney's largest 
Jewish community attended Jewish awareness training sponsored 
by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, which included a tour 
and seminar at the Holocaust Museum.  The Victorian Police 
had a similar program and enthusiastically embraced Karen 
Paikin's suggestion that it liaise with the Victorian Jewish 
community to improve the sensitivity training of its recruits 
and officers.  The NSW Jewish community also actively 
participates in state government-sponsored interfaith 
initiatives.  For example, a rabbi, imam, and a Christian 
clergyman visited a number of schools in both Sydney and 
rural NSW in order to teach children the importance of 
interfaith harmony. 
 
HOW AUSTRALIA STACKS UP 
----------------------- 
 
7 (SBU) In meetings with the Jewish community, Rickman 
explained the Congressional origins of his position and then 
cited concern about the reported rise of anti-Semitism in 
Australia.  Colin Rubenstein of the AIJAC commented that he 
did not believe that "the situation in Australia was worse 
than in Europe."  While noting a rise in the number of 
incidents being recorded, Mark Leibler, the National Chairman 
of the AIJAC, pointed out that "of the 600 plus incidents for 
2007 only 12 were considered serious."  Both men argued this 
was a dramatically different situation from that which was 
taking place in the UK and throughout Europe. 
 
¶8. (U) In follow-up to Rickman's visit, OPA Melbourne is 
facilitating contact between the Victorian Police and U.S. 
organizations, among them the Wiesenthal Center in Los 
Angeles, responsible for tolerance training with the help of 
the Special Envoy's office. 
 
¶9. (U) Special Envoy Rickman cleared this cable.  CONGEN 
Sydney contributed to its drafting. 
IRVING