Australia's Victoria to start anti-hate task force after Melbourne synagogue arson

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's Victoria state will set up a anti-hate task force to help frame laws giving police more powers to tackle violent protests, as it probes an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue when worshippers were inside, it said on Monday.

There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the Jewish community.

"Just as the fire came to the front door here of this (synagogue), it was stopped. So too must we put a stop to antisemitism," Victoria state Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters outside the synagogue.

"Not only does it have no place here in Melbourne and Victoria, it has no place anywhere."

Allan said the task force, which would include the premier, state police minister, Mayor of Melbourne and police personnel, would have its first meeting this week. Jewish community representatives will be invited to attend the meeting.

The government is consulting experts while drafting a bill to ban face masks, display of terror symbols and devices used by protesters to attach themselves to objects that makes it difficult for police to remove them, Allan said.

Counterterrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested a 34-year-old Sydney resident, whom the authorities declined to identify, charging him with offences including criminal damage by fire. Police said the man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door and set it on fire before fleeing.

Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.

Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson.

In January, a home in Sydney previously owned by a senior Jewish community leader was vandalised, two cars were set on fire, and a Jewish school and two other properties in Sydney were sprayed with antisemitic slurs. Melbourne's Adass synagogue, built by holocaust survivors in the 1960s, suffered widespread damage last year after a fire that injured one.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)