'Fraying' of Melbourne's social cohesion, antisemitism inquiry hears

There has been a "fraying" of social cohesion in Melbourne since the start of the war in Gaza, the city's lord mayor has told the antisemitism royal commission.The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has entered its final week of public hearings, with a final report due before the first anniversary of the Bondi Beach terror attack.City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece appeared at the inquiry on Monday to discuss the challenges the local government had faced in addressing division in the community since the outbreak of war in 2023."We saw a significant rise of protest in Melbourne and … some fraying of cohesion in our city," he said."I've found it to be one of the most challenging issues I've had to face as lord mayor of Melbourne."Melbourne has the largest population of Jewish Australians in the country.Synagogues spray-painted with 'threatening' graffitiMr Reece said synagogues in Melbourne had been graffitied on a near weekly basis since the start of the war in Gaza.He said a targeted initiative aimed at removing "menacing" and "threatening" graffiti within one hour of reporting had cleaned more than 3,000 hateful items.Mr Reece said of those, between 800 and 1,000 items of graffiti were antisemitic in nature."One of the things that has been most upsetting to me over the last two-and-a-half years is people telling me they are afraid to come into the city," he said."That was particularly focused around some of the protest activity we were seeing, but it was also focused around some of the awful materials we were seeing being put up around the city."Graffiti at the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in South Yarra last year. (Facebook: Australian Jewish Association)The commission heard one of the incidents which occurred in January 2026 required the removal of 40 posters which depicted one of the Bondi Beach shooters behind the word "Aussie".Mr Reece said the city was working with other inner-city local governments to expand the rapid response initiative, which was resource intensive."It's very expensive," he said."One recommendation I would make to the commission is that you do give consideration to some sort of funding program from the Commonwealth or another level of government that would allow local governments who want to implement policies like this to do so," he said.NSW premier open to extension callMeanwhile, NSW Premier Chris Minns has weighed in on discussions about the length of the royal commission.Last week, Liberal MP Julian Leeser made a bid to extend the inquiry and to call government ministers and the prime minister to give evidence.Mr Minns on Monday said he had spoken to witnesses who had been "satisfied" with the royal commission so far."But, you know, if we need to go a couple of weeks longer, given that most of the expense was spent setting it up, that would seem to be money well spent because both the federal and the and the state government are relying on these recommendations to shape some of our policy," he said.The royal commission previously said Commissioner Virginia Bell SC was "committed to completing the final report within the timeframe set in the Letters Patent"."The Royal Commission is currently holding its ninth and final hearing block which concludes late August 2026," a spokesperson said in a statement."We've heard from more than 200 witnesses and received over 20,000 submissions as part of our inquiry."