Greens Senator David Shoebridge has told a Senate Estimates committee that false antisemitism claims drive Islamophobia and attacks on Muslim communities, in remarks delivered almost six months on from the terror attack at Bondi Beach that killed 15 Jewish people.

In a clip from the hearing circulated widely on X on 2 June 2026, Shoebridge said false claims of antisemitism, wrongly conflating criticism of Israel and "basic acts of Palestinian solidarity" with antisemitism, were "part of what drives Islamophobia, and attacks against the Muslim community, and attacks against the Palestinian community."

The Senator didn't mention by name the 15 people killed at the Hanukkah festival at Archer Park on 14 December 2025. The youngest was 10 years old.

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Video: Greens Senator David Shoebridge speaks at a Senate Estimates committee hearing.

What Happened At Bondi

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett told a previous Senate Estimates hearing that police allege the attack was carried out by Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram, who they say were inspired by the Islamic State. Sajid Akram was killed by police during the attack.

Naveed Akram, the only person charged in connection with the attack, is on remand at Goulburn Correctional Centre awaiting trial on 59 charges including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, committing a terrorist act, and placing an explosive with intent to cause harm. He's presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The Terrorism Record

The Bondi Beach attack is the deadliest terror incident in Australian history. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has assessed religiously motivated violent extremism, specifically Sunni Islamist, as the principal terrorist threat to Australia since the early 2000s. ASIO raised the national threat level back to "probable" in August 2024.

Documented Islamist attacks on Australian soil before Bondi include the 2014 Lindt Cafe siege by Man Haron Monis, the 2014 Endeavour Hills stabbings of two counter terrorism officers by Numan Haider, the 2015 shooting of NSW Police accountant Curtis Cheng outside Parramatta police headquarters by a 15 year old gunman, the 2017 Brighton siege in Melbourne, and the 2018 Bourke Street attack by Hassan Khalif Shire Ali. According to research published by West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, 30 jihadi plots have been recorded in Australia since September 2014, with 11 resulting in attacks that killed or injured people. At least 23 Australians have been convicted of domestic terrorism charges since 2001.

The Antisemitism Numbers

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry recorded 1,654 antisemitic incidents in Australia between October 2024 and September 2025, around five times the annual average of the decade before the October 7 Hamas attacks. The year immediately after October 7 recorded 2,062 incidents. The Council reported a marked increase in graffiti calling for the killing of Jews as a direct imperative rather than as hostile sentiment.

What "Palestinian Solidarity" Includes

Shoebridge didn't specify which acts he meant by "basic acts of Palestinian solidarity." One slogan that's appeared at pro Palestinian rallies internationally, "globalise the intifada," has been formally condemned in a bipartisan US Congressional resolution as hate speech and a call to violence against Jewish people. In December 2023, nine people were arrested in London for displaying a "globalise the intifada" banner near Regent's Park. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has publicly described the slogan as not legitimate political critique but a call to expand intifada violence beyond Israel.

Gay Rights, Sharia, And Shoebridge's Record

The Greens' published platform supports equal protection for LGBTIQA+ Australians, gender affirming healthcare for trans young people, and an end to discrimination in marriage. In Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Mauritania, the UAE, Brunei and parts of Nigeria and Somalia, homosexual acts can carry the death penalty under Sharia influenced law. Indonesia's Aceh province publicly canes men convicted of homosexual acts. Senator Shoebridge has been on the record as Greens foreign affairs spokesperson criticising Australian arms exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE on human rights grounds, and condemning Israeli and US military action against Iran. When he moved a 2015 NSW Parliament motion against the death penalty globally, the countries he named were Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, China and Japan. Iran, Saudi Arabia and the other Sharia jurisdictions weren't named. The Greens' deputy leader, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, who's Muslim, publicly campaigned for marriage equality during the 2017 plebiscite.

The Royal Commission And The Greens' Position

Shoebridge's remarks landed while the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, set up after the Bondi attack, continues its work. The commission's faced its own criticism, including from voices arguing it excludes Palestinian perspectives.

A request for comment has been sent to Senator Shoebridge's office. The Greens have previously argued that hate crime protections in the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 should be extended beyond Judaism to Islam and other religions, as well as to LGBTQ+ and disability communities.

The trial of Naveed Akram hasn't yet been listed.

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