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MESSAGE FROM THE PRIME MINISTER
PASSOVER

It is with great plea­sure that I offer you the greet­ing that has resound­ed through the ages:
Chag Pesach Sameach.

As Jew­ish Aus­tralians cel­e­brate Passover, the sto­ries and sym­bols of the Seder table bring
to life a larg­er sto­ry: one of lib­er­a­tion and endurance, of tri­umph over adver­si­ty, of redemp­tion and hope.

The late Rab­bi Jonathan Sacks reflect­ed:
           “There is a fun­da­men­tal dif­fer­ence between liv­ing with the past and liv­ing in the
            past. Judaism is a reli­gion of mem­o­ry. We remem­ber the exo­dus annu­al­ly, even
            dai­ly. But we do so for the sake of the future, not the past”

All Aus­tralians can lis­ten to this mes­sage, and reflect on how we can learn from our
his­to­ry to cre­ate a bet­ter future.

As we think about the future we seek to cre­ate togeth­er, I want to reit­er­ate my unshake­able
belief that extrem­ism and hatred have no place in Aus­tralian soci­ety. I unequiv­o­cal­ly
con­demn the shock­ing and dis­tress­ing pub­lic dis­plays of anti-Semi­tism, intol­er­ance and
neo-Nazi ide­ol­o­gy we saw recent­ly in Vic­to­ria.

My Gov­ern­ment is work­ing hard to address this seri­ous issue in a mean­ing­ful way, and
to advance pro­tec­tion against vil­i­fi­ca­tion of peo­ple of faith. I am con­fi­dent these moves
will be embraced by Aus­tralians, anoth­er source of pride in our inclu­sive and diverse
nation.

Passover is always a pow­er­ful inspi­ra­tion, and a reminder of the courage, strength and
resilience of the Jew­ish peo­ple.

As you gath­er with fam­i­ly and loved ones for this most impor­tant cel­e­bra­tion, I wish
Jew­ish Aus­tralians a hap­py Passover.

Chag Kash­er V’Sameach.

The Hon Antho­ny Albanese MP
Prime Min­is­ter of Aus­tralia
April 2023.