from the office of ROLAND ROCCHICCIOLI

THE Prime Minister is to be commended for his decision to call a Royal Commission into anti-Semitism and the consequences of the Bondi massacre.

It would be wrong and regrettable to construe the decision as a personal humiliation. Definitively, it demonstrates Mr. Albanese’s abiding concern for our Australian Jewish community — indeed all communities — who are subjected to any construct of racism or ethnic discrimination. Racism is the scrouge of modern society.

Collectively, we are confronting a significant cultural and identity dilemma. For too long we have allowed unintentional racism to flourish with barely a consequential thought. With alacrity we have repeated the seemingly harmless joke about the Irishman “walking into a bar”; or Moshe the Jew, or Paddy the Welshman, or Giuseppe the Italian — or the “whomever”. While they are not innately racist they categorically serve to reinforce stereotypical views; they suggest a tacit acceptance — a subconscious permission to be “unintentionally racist”. Axiomatically, the massacre on Bondi beach cannot be categorised so simplistically; it is more religiously nuanced; more profoundly sinister; however, it does form part of the essential core crisis.

Religious fundamentalism is a growing phenomenon — a curse affecting every Australian and which has been part of this country’s zeitgeist since 1788. Irish Catholics were persecuted. Government employment advertisements, 1950s, carried a discriminatory caution: “Catholics and Jews need not apply”. Religiously incompatible neighbours did not speak. Mixed marriages were a vexed conundrum. Farcically, a Catholic bridesmaid at a Protestant wedding was forced to wait at the church door.

During the reign of Elizabeth I — and England’s years of religious tension —it was High Treason for a Catholic priest to enter England. Religious zealots collected information and tracked-down priests. Those aiding-and-abetting the papists were punished. Captured priests were imprisoned, tortured, and killed.

Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” is a singularly nasty play. The denouement — Shylock’s crushing penalty of a forced conversion to Christianity — sits uncomfortably with modern audiences; consequently, there is a universally enlightened hesitancy to perform the work.

The ethnic savagery which has enveloped and contaminated this Nation must be halted. It is incumbent on each of us to be part of the solution — regardless! Social prophylaxis — walking-by and expecting others to solve the problem — does nothing to eradicate the wicked problems. We must — through education and persistence — seek to restore our discarded social mores; to dictate a respect for our symbols and institutions; to incapacitate the capacity for, and be less tolerant of, egregious behaviour which is incompatible with the majority; and to require our Australian law to punish harshly — without fear or favour — those who would destroy our way-of-life.

Indubitably, religion — despite its potential for good — is problematic. While the tenets are sound, in the hands of distorted fundamentalists they become a treacherous weapon. The rampant emergence of judgemental Pentecostalism is reason for disquiet. That neo-Nazi adherents have flourished despite strident authority resistance suggests an unacceptable permissiveness.

We must — as a Nation — become more vigilant; more stridently determined to make Australia a better place; to vigorously eradicate the hatred which covertly pollutes our lives. It is imperative we demonstrate there is no place at Australia’s high-table of welcome for those who find our ways and customs objectionable.

It is time for government to ignore the clamour of objection and implement radical social change.

Roland can be heard with Brett Macdonald radio 3BA Monday 10.40am.