Anthony Albanese declares perpetrators of anti-Semitic crimes should be ‘hunted down and put in the clink’

Perpetrators of anti-Semitic crimes should be “hunted down (and) put in the clink”, Anthony Albanese has declared after the arrest of two men in Perth on charges related to hateful graffiti over the weekend.

The Prime Minister accused the Coalition of prioritising politics over community safety during a heated question time focused on when he first learned about the discovery of a caravan packed with explosives in NSW. It was apparently intended to be used in an attack on a Jewish facility.

WA Police have charged a Beechboro man and a Dianella man, both 27, with criminal damage in circumstances of racial aggravation over incidents in Dalkeith and Nedlands.

The arrests came after a spate of anti-Semitic incidents across Perth, including the Dalkeith home being spray-painted with a nazi swastika and abusive language.

Federal police also charged a 64-year-old Victorian man on Wednesday with allegedly calling a political organisation in January and making anti-Semitic and abusive statements.

“It is abhorrent that parliamentarians and members of our community are being targeted and threatened because of their race or religious views,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt said.

There have now been 207 people charged across the country in relation to anti-Semitism.

Mr Albanese said these arrests showed police were getting on with the job of cracking down on hateful crimes targeting Jewish Australians.

“On the issue of anti-Semitism, we have a very clear position: I want to see people who are perpetrators of this, what are crimes, hunted down, put in the clink and dealt with,” he told reporters

“That’s what I want. And we’ll provide all of the authorities the resources to do so.”

He repeated the desire to see people arrested and jailed during question time.

“AFP Operation Avalite have successfully made one arrest . . . there have been 180 arrests in New South Wales. 12 people have been charged in Queensland, 13 in South Australia and today, two in Western Australia,” he said.

“That is the hard work that is conducted by our police and security and intelligence services. The idea that that is not the priority and that that should be not my focus is quite frankly absurd. Absurd and irresponsible.”

The PM has repeatedly dodged questioning about when he was first told about the discovery last month of the explosive in Dural, on Sydney’s outskirts.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has said policed briefed him a day after they found the caravan, but it did not become known publicly until a media leak 10 days later.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said that was an “open and honest” approach, in contrast with Mr Albanese’s evasiveness.

“The Prime Minister has been embarrassed because he was not advised by the police because they were worried about him leaking the information ahead of any action by the police,” he told Parliament to uproar from Labor MPs.

“It is not a reflection, it is a fact … It is a statement of fact that it is the reason that the Prime Minister keeps digging.”

Mr Albanese continued to deflect, offering Opposition frontbenchers a briefing from security agencies and saying there were legitimate reasons which police might not want details of their investigations widely known.

“You know what the Australian people want to know? They want to know who is behind this. They want to know who is engaged in anti-Semitic attacks,” he said.

“They want to know who, if people have been paid, they want to know where that trail leads. And they want intelligence agencies to be able to do that work without political interference and without political games.”

The AFP said in January there was intelligence to suggest foreign sources were seeking to pay Australians for anti-Semitic attacks.

Mr Dutton has repeatedly linked the issue of anti-Semitism to his record on cancelling visas as Home Affairs and immigration minister.

However, it’s believed the two men arrested in Perth are Australian citizens – meaning they do not have visas to cancel.

As far as the government is aware, all those charged with anti-Semitic crimes in recent months have similarly been Australians.

The only people to have had visas cancelled related to hate speech and vilification were US conservative commentator Candace Owens and former right-wing Israeli minister Ayelet Shaked.

Parliament examined stronger federal hate crimes laws on Wednesday, with independent MP Allegra Spender seeking to broaden the remit to better tackle anti-Semitism., but it was not expected to go to a vote until Thursday.