MPs on both sides pressure unis over protest camps

The federal opposition is calling for the forcible break-up of pro-Palestine university tent protests and new laws to fine universities that do not sanction misbehaving protesters.

Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson and senior frontbencher Michael Sukkar said the encampments should be broken up by police.

Henderson has called for police to move the demonstrators off publicly owned land, but university chiefs have prioritised deescalation, believing a police presence would only heighten hostilities. Labor minister Bill Shorten has also demanded that university vice-chancellors enforce codes of conduct to protect Jewish students.

Shorten and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton both told The Sunday Age that vice-chancellors must do more to foster a safe campus atmosphere, as anti-war activists mirror US protest camps at universities across Australia.

‘‘The higher education regulator must be given powers to fine universities which fail to enforce their own codes of conduct and keep people safe on campus,’’ Henderson said, recommending the enacting of ‘‘time and place’’ protest rules that allow demonstrations at agreed times.

‘‘By allowing terrorist slogans and chants, the Group of Eight’s claim that ‘we have little recourse to their use’ shows Australia’s elite universities don’t have the moral courage to keep Jewish students safe.’’

There have been flare-ups between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israelsupporting counter-protesters – including a stand-off between the two groups at the University of Melbourne on Thursday.

However, local protests have not led to significant outbreaks of violence, and the pro-Palestine demonstrators have not occupied university buildings in their campaign against the Israel military’s operation that Hamas says has killed 34,000 people.

But some Jewish student groups have raised concerns about displays of flags associated with terror groups, chants on violent uprisings, alleged harassment and intimidation, and public statements such as that of a key Australian National University protest leader who claimed the Hamas terror group ‘‘deserve our unconditional support’’.

Shorten said university chiefs were straddling a tricky line between upholding the freedom to protest and standing up for the rights of Jewish students made to feel answerable for the actions of a foreign government.

‘‘Freedom of speech is not unfettered, and it doesn’t give a right to bully and coerce and intimidate,’’ he said.

The former Labor leader pointed to reports he had received about activists photographing students in class if they refused to stand up in support of the Palestinian movement. In another case, a tutor advised a student to skip class if they felt uncomfortable with it being held alongside an encampment.

‘‘What’s the point of a code of conduct if some people think they’re above the law? It can’t be a selective code of conduct,’’ Shorten said.

Dutton has argued that the protests are racist, and says Jews are being targeted in a way that would not be accepted for other minority groups.

‘‘These people are highly paid individuals running profitable institutions and for them to wash their hands of these protests is an absolute disgrace,’’ Dutton said of university chiefs.

Greens leader Adam Bandt challenged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to back the protests and said that breaking them up would be anti-democratic.

‘‘Social movements throughout history have had a place on campus, and these brave students are drawing attention to an invasion backed by Labor that has killed tens of thousands of civilians so far,’’ he said.

Albanese met Jewish leaders in Sydney on Friday to discuss their community’s safety. ‘‘Students must feel safe at university classes,’’ he said in a statement after the meeting.

Revelations that western Sydney teenagers charged with terrorism after the Wakeley church stabbing were discussing murdering Jews have heightened anxieties within the community.

Fuelling their sense of alarm is a push by Australia’s top Palestinian advocate, Nasser Mashni, to get a visa for Palestinian hero Leila Khaled, who hijacked planes in the 1960s and has celebrated the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Facebook owner Meta has blocked posts about Khaled’s planned Australian speech at an event alongside Mashni, who recently spruiked Australia’s university protesters in an appearance on Iranian state TV.