Australia’s Labor government has written into next week’s federal budget $31.5 million in taxpayer funding to rebuild Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue, which was gutted by fire after an unsolved arson attack in December.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed on Tuesday that he would guarantee $30 million for the restoration of the Ripponlea synagogue, along with another $1.2 million for security upgrades to the current buildings.
The pledge came a day after Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who also promised to add questions on anti-Semitism to Australia’s citizenship test, visited the site and promised $35 million for reconstruction.
During Mr Dutton’s visit Adass Israel board member Benjamin Klein said the estimated rebuilding cost was $45 million, of which $4 million would be covered by insurance and $6 million from donations.
“(The AFP) have assured us that they are throwing everything they’ve got at it, and a lot of different teams that are involved,” Mr Klein said.
“There’s a lot of different departments involved including ASIO, counter-terrorism and others. They assured us it’s the number one investigation in the country.”
An online fundraiser has already raised $2,263,771, including $150,000 from Rupert Murdoch, $150,000 from Melbourne’s The Herald Sun newspaper, $100,000 from the Victorian government, and $560,000 from an anonymous benefactor.
But Liberal voters were taken aback by Mr Dutton’s pledge, with many saying the money could be better spent on Australians struggling with the cost of living.
“It was a terrible act of terrorism, but just wonder how many homes could be built with that money at this time when many are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. Hopefully there will be lots of public housing available if you win the next election and clean out the enclaves,” said one of Mr Dutton’s followers on Facebook.
“It was a shocking attack but I don’t think the taxpayer should foot the bill to rebuild it,” said another.
“I don’t see why the taxpayer has to foot the bill as much as I am against this hostile behaviour they are not a poor community. We have more important issues to address,” said a third.
Mr Albanese said on Tuesday his government had already committed $250,000 to replace and restore Torah Scrolls that were damaged in the fire, $25 million for safety and security at Jewish sites around Australia after October 7, and another $32.5 million for similar measures since.
“There can be no place in Australia for anti-Semitism. The Government is taking action to stamp out this scourge,” he said.
In the days following the arson attack a Greens staffer was reprimanded for saying the arson attack may have been a Zionist false flag, but no arrests have been made despite the major three-month multi-agency investigation.
Similar firebombings and attempted arson attacks on synagogues in Sydney, along with a fake caravan bomb plot, have since been determined by police to have been carried out by criminals attempting to use them as leverage.
Header image: Left, Anthony Albanese at the burned out synagogue. Right, Peter Dutton visits on Monday (Facebook).
