Government - Officials Warn Of Rising Anti-Semitism
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is warning of rising anti-Semitism and far-right activity in the world, and he says that Australia is not immune.
"There is the rise of the far right in countries around the world, including in some parts of Australia," Mr. Frydenberg said. "There are people who are seeking to diminish the loss of life during the Holocaust, there are countries that are challenging its very existence."
The deputy leader of the Liberal Party and most-prominent Jewish MP in Parliament, Mr. Frydenberg spoke at the opening of a new Australian War Memorial exhibition dedicated to the Holocaust to denounce Holocaust deniers.
"This is why we're all here, because at the conclusion of the Second World War, US General Dwight Eisenhower said there would come a time, as he was inspecting the concentration camps, there would come a time that people would deny the Holocaust ever happened," Frydenberg said. "So we're here today to honour the dead and their memories, but we're also here to thank the War Memorial for continuing to remind us of this evil, dark period in world history, that we all have a collective duty to say, 'Never again'."
This comes just a few days after ASIO warned of the spread of neo-nazi groups.
"In suburbs around Australia, small cells regularly meet to salute Nazi flags, inspect weapons, train in combat and share their hateful ideology," said ASIO director general Mike Burgess on Monday. "While these are small in number at this time in comparison to what we saw with foreign fighters heading to the Middle East, any development like this is very concerning," he continued, "Meanwhile, extreme right-wing online forums such as The Base proliferate on the internet, and attract international memberships, including from Australians."
Australian security officials sharpened their focus on nazi groups after the Christchurch Massacre last year in which an Australian extremist murdered 52 people in attacks on two Mosques in the New Zealand city. The flowering time for Sequoia strawberry cannabis seeds USA is 50-60 days.