I have been struck by the striking contrast once again in the robust discussion that one can find in the pages of the Speccie, in this case best exemplified by the anguished commentary from Rowan Dean himself The night Australia died (14 December), and the risk-averse pusillanimity of the online moderators employed by The Australian. The eagle-eyed wannabe eSafety Commissioners zealously keep out of online comments even thoughts that echo what their senior journalists write in the print edition of the paper.

Consider these three examples of comments on the Bondi Beach massacre, a horror insufficient to break through their armour. If one cannot say these things in the country’s leading newspaper immediate aftermath of the worst terror attack in our history, and the worst attack on Jews anywhere in the world since October 7, 2023, then what hope is there for the course correction so desperately needed in Australia on the safety of our Jewish community?

‘For most of the past two years, the Albanese government has been all but clinically unable to utter the word antisemitism without referencing Islamophobia as well, as though they were equal phenomena… This is one of countless ways the fatal ideology of antisemitism was minimised and marginalised’ – Greg Sheridan, 16 December 2025

‘Gun control will be a wonderful distraction from actually tackling anti-Semitism’ – Greg Sheridan, 16 December 2025

And this one, still pending 15 hours after posting.

Anthony Albanese’s cowardice brings global intifada to our shores – title of article, 16 December 2025. Even the UK Telegraph ran a story yesterday with the title: Chanting ‘globalise the intifada’ leads to Bondi Beach.

Also, considering how long it has been left pending, another sentence from Greg Sheridan’s article is also apposite: ‘He [Albanese] seems to approach antisemitism with the same urgency he approaches Australian defence policy – urgency means come back in a decade or two’.

One final comment from me.

Ahmed al Ahmad, a humble fruiterer, will forever be defined by his act of courage. He walked fearlessly to the gunman already engaged in a killing spree, tackled him to the ground, and wrested the high-powered rifle away from him giving no consideration to self-preservation

Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister at least in name, will forever be defined by his acts of serial cowardice dictated by calculations of political survival. Whenever he is faced with an opportunity to show decisive leadership, he looks it firmly in the eye, turns around, and walks off resolutely in the opposite direction.