Antisemitism Envoy Jillian Segal — whose family bankrolls far-right political lobby group “Advance” — is steadfastly refusing to denounce the neo-Nazi rally held outside NSW Parliament House.
More than two weeks after 60-odd men dressed in black converged on the nation’s oldest parliament — sparking national outrage — Segal has issued no statement, and is refusing to say if she denounces the stunt.
Segal previously made headlines when she refused to make any comment on the August “March for Australia” anti-immigration rallies, which were attended by neo-Nazis and marred by race hate and violence.
More anti-immigration rallies, under the banner “Put Australia First”, are planned to be held in “every capital city” on Saturday.
Segal’s family trust is one of the biggest funders of far-right group “Advance”, which spreads hateful material, racist tropes and bigoted imagery to hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
“Segal refused to respond when asked whether she denounced the neo-Nazi stunt”
An expose by The Klaxon on July 12 detailed how Segal’s family trust gave $50,000 to Advance in 2023-24, making it the far-right group’s tied second biggest funder in the year.
Segal is yet to meaningfully respond to the scandal — issuing only a vague, two-sentence statement suggesting her husband was responsible — and has kept a very low public profile in the four-and-a-half months since.
“Segal’s Antisemitism Envoy website had been dormant for four months”
She has given a speech at a long-organised, private event on the Gold Coast run by a Jewish lobby group; and appeared on an “opinion” segment on Sky News, one of the nation’s least trusted media outlets.
The Klaxon’s July 12 expose. Source: The Klaxon
Searches show Segal’s government website had been dormant between July 10 until late last week — more than four months.
Segal has at no stage denounced Advance or its activities.
“Segal has at no stage denounced Advance or its activities”
Segal has repeatedly refused to respond when asked by The Klaxon over the past two weeks whether she denounces the November 7 Neo-Nazi stunt.
That’s despite her terms of reference as Antisemitism Envoy being to address racism, “hate speech, discrimination and divisive language” through “public education and awareness” and “engaging in media opportunities”.
It’s also despite Segal having publicly called for pro-Palestine rallies to be banned from the nation’s inner cities — and calling to “monitor” non-commercial news outlets (the ABC and SBS).
The ABC and SBS are consistently voted the nation’s most trusted news outlets.
The Antisemitism Envoy role is costing taxpayers well over $1 million a year — with Segal having appointed six staffers in two offices. Segal herself is being paid $1,070 a day.
The November 7 rally outside NSW Parliament House. Source: Twitter/X
Advance has suggested immigrants in detention are “rapists, paedophiles and murderers” and claims the Indigenous Welcome to Country is part of a secretive plan by “elites” to “delegitimise Australia’s history”.
The Federal Government created the Antisemitism Envoy role following pressure from Jewish and pro-Israel lobby groups, as well as heaving campaigning by News Corporation Australia, owner of Sky News.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed Segal to the role in July 2024, “as part of our ongoing efforts to preserve social cohesion in Australia”.
Advance spreads hateful and anti-Palestinian material. Source: Advance
As previously revealed by The Klaxon, Segal is — and has been at all times since her appointment — a current top official of pro-Israel lobby group, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).
Segal refused to respond when asked by The Klaxon whether she had been lobbying the Federal Government, or state governments, behind-the-scenes.
“Segal refused to respond when asked whether she had been lobbying governments behind-the-scenes”
The November 7 neo-Nazi rally by “White Australia” — also known as the National Socialist Network (NSN) — was approved by NSW Police, who also gave permission for it to be held outside NSW Parliament House.
Facing public backlash, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said it had been approved due to a “communication error”; that he had been unaware of the rally; and if he had been, he would have taken steps to stop it.
NSW Premier Chris Minns used that police “error” to justify introducing yet more speech laws, which would give police even more powers — despite NSW Police having failed to use the powers already available to them.
The neo-Nazi group stood beside a banner stating “Abolish the Jewish Lobby” and reportedly made anti-Jewish slurs, including of the type that could lead to criminal charges under existing race hate laws.
NSW Police were present but made no arrests and laid no charges.
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Segal has been refusing to answer questions about the neo-Nazi stunt for the past two weeks.
NSW Council of Civil Liberties president Timothy Roberts said NSW Police should have challenged the rally, but instead “waived it through”.
“They completely waved it through, so not only do I believe that they could have challenged it, they were aware of the illegality of the protest,” he told the ABC.
“I believe…they (NSW Police) were aware of the illegality of the protest” — Timothy Roberts
Legal experts say the NSW Government is undermining Australia’s hard-fought freedoms and “eroding” the right to protest.
Segal has campaigned heavily for further restrictions on the right to protest — focusing specifically on pro-Palestine demonstrations.
On July 10, flanked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Segal delivered a 20-page “Antisemitism Report”, which has been widely criticised.
Tony Bourke, Jillian Segal and Anthony Albanese last Thursday, launching Segal’s 20-page report. Source: AAP Image/ Dan Himbrechts
Alongside plans to “monitor” non-commercial media — the ABC and SBS — the report calls for funding to be cut from universities, charities and cultural bodies if they “enable or fail to act” against “antisemitism”.
Segal’s actions, and those of several Jewish and pro-Israel lobby groups, including Segal’s ECAJ, have raised serious concerns of possible foreign interference.
Segal is seeking to put higher education under the ‘control of a political lobby’ — Academics’ open letter
Hundreds of university academics nationwide have called for Segal’s July 10 report to be rejected, labelling it an “unprecedented attack” on academic freedom that is seeking to place higher education under “the control of a political lobby”.
More than 380 academics have signed the open letter, stating Segal’s proposals have “nothing to do with combating antisemitism” and “everything to do with censoring criticism of Israel”.
Segal’s proposals “nothing to do with combating antisemitism” and “everything to do with censoring criticism of Israel” — Academics’ open letter
Searches show that in her 16 months as Antisemitism Envoy, Segal has issued just three statements to her government website. The first statement, on July 9 last year, was to announce her appointment, and the second statement, on July 10, announced the release of her Antisemitism Report.
The office of the Antisemitism Envoy has issued just two statements between its creation in June 2024 and late last week. Source: ASECA
Late last week Segal issued a statement that she had launched a “new University Report Card Project” to “assess how Australian universities are responding to antisemitism on campus”.
“Segal has launched a ‘report card’ to monitor universities”
The most recent update to the “latest news” section of Segal’s “Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism” website was in November last year.
“The most recent update to the ‘latest news’ section of Segal’s website was in November last year”
The Klaxon’s July 12 Advance expose sparked widespread calls for Segal to be removed as Antisemitism Envoy.
The Australian Friends of Palestine Association; the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network; the Greens; the Arab Council Australia; the Lebanese Muslim Association; the Alliance of Australians for Muslims and the Australian National Imams Council are among those to have issued statements in direct response to the July 12 expose.
A protester outside the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne on July 13, the day after The Klaxon’s expose on Segal and Advance. Picture: AAP Image/Scott Barbour
When Segal released her report on July 10 it was reported the Federal Government was expected to move quickly to act on her recommendations.
The Federal Government has taken no public steps to do so, angering Segal and many Jewish and pro-Israel lobby groups.
More from The Klaxon:
Sep 19: Jillian Segal a top exec at pro-Israel lobby group
Sep 5: Antisemitism Envoy costing taxpayers over $1 million a year
Sep 4: Envoy Segal silent on Neo-Nazis
Aug 8: EXCLUSIVE: Segal’s “husband” donation claims crumble
July 29: Segal seeking to put unis “under control of a political lobby”
In early September Segal have a speech at a long-planned, private event at a secret location on the Gold Coast, held by US-based group called the Combat Antisemitism Movement (The Klaxon’s repeated requests to attend the event were ignored).
At the event, Segal refused to even address the nationwide “March for Australia” rallies — and the presence of neo-Nazis — held just days earlier, Guardian Australia reports.
“Segal declined to specifically address the presence of neo-Nazis at anti-immigration marches on the weekend…and during a subsequent press conference,” it states.
Last month Segal appeared on an “opinion” segment on Sky News.
The Antisemitism Envoy was not asked anything about Advance, despite the major scandal being the defining point of her term to date; it having been covered by almost all the nation’s major media outlets — and Segal having so far consistently refused to provide any meaningful response.
Segal appears on an “opinion” Segment on Sky News, one of the nation’s least trusted media outlets. She is asked nothing about her family trust’s funding of far-right group “Advance”. Source: Sky News
The Sky News segment ran with the prominent taglines “Govt Must Act on Antisemitism Report” and “Outrage at Pro-Palestinian Rally Plans”.
Segal started the segment by thanking the host “for all that you have done to keep this issue of anti-Semitism at the forefront”.
The Antisemitism Envoy — and ECAJ lobby group top official — again called for more restrictions on free speech, repeating her calls for “time and place restrictions” on public demonstrations.
“I think that has of course to be embedded in our laws,” Segal said.
Do you know more? anthonyklan@protonmail.com
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