EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:

A year ago the Albanese Government appointed Jillian Segal AO as Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism in Australia. Ms Segal was asked to engage with Jewish Australians, the wider community, religious discrimination experts and all levels of government on the most effective way to combat antisemitism. Last week she released her report on what she found and recommendations for action. The Bug presents a transcript of our interview with Ms Segal.

The Bug: Let’s begin by looking at your own CV – former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and chair of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. Do you think a totally independent person might have been better placed to produce this report or plan to ensure its acceptance by the public or at least to remove the opportunity to criticise it as slanted?

Jillian Segal: Well, I’m shocked that you would open with such an antisemitic question.

The Bug: What? Antisem… It’s not antisemitic to ask that.

JS: So you’re now denying your antisemitic question? That’s just as bad.

The Bug: Wait. What?

Ms Segall picks up her mobile phone and activates the voice memo app.

JS: (dictating note to self) Add two more incidents of antisemitism to July 2025’s figures.

The Bug: On that subject, let’s look at the figures you’ve cited. You say: “In October and November 2023 alone, episodes increased over 700% compared to the previous year…” I can’t find any source for that figure in the rest of your report. In fact the only sources I found anywhere were comments you made in a Sky News interview in October 2024, (below) and you used the same 700% figure in a doorstop interview alongside the Prime Minister in July 2024.

JS: So….

The Bug: So? So what’s the source?

JS: No, no. Before you interrupted I was going to say, so antisemitic of you to cast doubt on that figure.

The Bug: In your report you also say, and I quote: “From October 2023 to September 2024, antisemitic incidents surged by 316%, with over 2,000 cases reported.” The only source I found with stats anywhere near that figure was your earlier public statements I mentioned where you use stats from the Council of Australian Jewry. Again, don’t you think some explanation of the figures in your report would have been appropriate?

Ms Segall activates her phone’s voice memo app.

JS: (dictating note to self) Make that an extra three, no make it six, incidents. Hell, make it an even 10 extra incidents.

The Bug: In another section, where you discuss the broader social implications, you claim: “Antisemitism is evident within schools and universities and has become ingrained and normalised within academia and the cultural space.” Really? That’s a big call, isn’t it. Again, you don’t seem to have included any hard evidence to support that assertion?

Ms Segall activates her phone’s voice memo app.

JS: (dictating note to self) Scratch the previous figure. Add, say 20 extra incidents for July.  

The Bug: In your report you consider “the drivers of antisemitism” and you say: “.. since 7 October 2023, antisemitism has risen to deeply troubling levels in Australia. This has been driven by conflict in the Middle East, manipulated narratives in the legacy media and social media and the spread of extremist ideologies…”

JS: And your antisemitic point is?

The Bug: Whoa! Hang on. My point is that you acknowledge that any rise in antisemitism has 7 October 2023 as its starting point, which suggests it has been the genocidal actions of the Israeli Government of Benjamin Netanyahu in response to the horrendous October 2023 attacks by Hamas that has caused that rise. Yet you sanitise it as “conflict in the Middle East”.

Ms Segall activates her phone’s voice memo app.

JS: (dictating note to self) Make it an extra …. Oh, bugger it, make it 100 more.

The Bug: Coming back to the question of independence, usually these sort of reports contain recommendations which the government then considers and decides which ones it will accept and implement. Do you think you’ve tried to force the Albanese Government’s hand by including a full page quoting the Prime Minister? (below) It seems to me that using such imagery might suggest to some people that the PM is endorsing the report as a whole.

JS: I’m shocked that once again you’d cast such an antisemitic slur on the report. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Ms Segall picks up her mobile phone and attempts to activate its voice memo app.

The Bug: Hang on. Just put your phone down for a sec. You say you’re not trying to frame the PM as backing all of your work, yet take a look at this image from your website. (below)

JS: And your antisemitic point is?

The Bug: Wait, antisemitic?

JS: Indeed. Your whole conspiracy theory is classic antisemitism of the worst possible kind.

Ms Segall stands up to leave while activating her phone’s voice memo app.

JS: (dictating note to self) Add a couple of more hundred incidents to the July running total, and tell my secretary not to schedule any more interviews with The Bug. Never again.

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