{"id":679410,"date":"2026-05-18T21:26:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/679410\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T21:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:26:16","slug":"royal-commission-into-antisemitism-sir-frank-lowy-urges-political-leaders-to-adopt-sports-led-strategy-for-social-cohesion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/679410\/","title":{"rendered":"Royal Commission into Antisemitism: Sir Frank Lowy urges political leaders to adopt sports-led strategy for social cohesion"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Westfield founder and Holocaust survivor Sir Frank Lowy has urged political leaders to use the success of transforming soccer from a sport riven by ethnic rivalries into a beloved national code as a blueprint to tackle antisemitism in Australia.<\/p>\n

Lowy, a prominent Jew, has provided a submission to the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion focusing on his leadership in taking Australian soccer from the brink of financial and administrative collapse to one of the \u201cmost popular and fastest-growing sports\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"SirSir Frank Lowy in Tel Aviv, where he lives most of the year, in 2024.Yadid Levy<\/p>\n

The former Football Federation Australia chair, who was tasked in 2003 by then-prime minister John Howard with professionalising soccer, detailed how he was \u201cinvolved in a positive change in Australian sport that has parallels with the issues currently before the royal commission\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough this change, a form of social cohesion was achieved. I believe this is a concrete example of how ethnic divisiveness was transformed into loyalty to Australia,\u201d Lowy\u2019s submission says. \u201cIt shows how social change can take effect and bind a community.\u201d<\/p>\n

In line with Howard\u2019s request, Lowy created the A-League, with eight clubs across the country and New Zealand, named after their regions. Sydney FC, Newcastle Jets, Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory, and Perth Glory \u2013 among others \u2013 were born. The league has now expanded to 12 teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach team had players from mix of backgrounds and were miniature versions of multicultural Australia,\u201d Lowy\u2019s submission says. \u201cTheir fans of all ethnicities entered through the same gate. The \u2018wogball\u2019 tag vanished, and more teams were established.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Socceroos also made a historic return to the World Cup after a 32-year absence and Australia was finally admitted to the powerful Asian Football Confederation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur world presence improved, as did the quality of competition. The cumulative effect of all the change shifted the perception of Australian football,\u201d Lowy\u2019s submission says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts Australian identity was baked in. We had achieved cohesion and professionalised the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowy\u2019s submission says despite previous failed attempts to \u201cde-ethicise the game\u201d it was strong government support, funding and leadership that ultimately changed soccer in Australia.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Dr<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn turn, this led to people of high standing with expertise in finance, law, government relations, sports governance, marketing, and event management to join me, pro bono, to help,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerous sponsorship from big business followed, so did broadcasting deals [and] early generations of compatriots had passed, leaving children and grandchildren more amenable to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says to \u201cbring back Australian decency we need cultural confidence\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis can only be demonstrated by powerful and inspiring leadership from government. It would take a well-funded brilliant campaign, from the heart of Canberra, backed by people with standing, by big business and by public, educational and religious institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cDone well, it would snowball as it moved through the country, reaching everyone from kindergarten to care homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowy \u2013 who, after immigrating to Australia in the 1950s, amassed a fortune worth $9.7 billion through his shopping centre empire \u2013 was 13 and was trying to flee Hungary in 1944 when his father Hugo was detained and sent to his death at Auschwitz.<\/p>\n

He says in his submission that he experienced very little antisemitism in his early years in Australia and \u201cthrough my leadership positions in the Jewish community, I had a fair idea of the level of antisemitism in the country, and it seemed low, although it did occasionally flare\u201d.<\/p>\n

His submission says antisemitism gradually became more normalised here and \u201cburst into the forecourt of Sydney\u2019s Opera House on October 9, 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople seemed not to have understood the privilege of free speech and freely abused it.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he says \u201cjust as we managed the ethnic rivalry after World War II, so we can manage the anti-Jewish sentiment from this latest war. But we can\u2019t wait decades\u201d.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Michele<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFootball is a microcosm of Australian society and with modifications. What we achieved in this sport, we can achieve as a nation,\u201d his submission says.<\/p>\n

Former High Court judge Virginia Bell has heard two weeks of testimony from Jews on their lived experience with antisemitism in Australia.<\/p>\n

A second block of hearings will start on May 25, with a focus on the Bondi Beach terror attack on December 14, which killed 15 people, most of whom were Jewish.<\/p>\n

The commission will look at the terrorism threat level in the lead-up to the attack and the conduct of security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies, including what was known about the shooters.<\/p>\n

There will also be a probe into security arrangements for the Hanukkah event as well as a focus on \u201chow intelligence about individuals known to authorities is utilised and shared to inform decisions made by security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies\u201d.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"AlexandraAlexandra Smith<\/a> is a senior writer and former state political editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-679410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}