The report of the Albanese Government’s antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, contains recommendations that will lead to erosion of freedom of expression and the right to protest.

Segal’s recommendations include heading down the Trumpian path of using government funding as a means of censoring views.

As the Sydney Morning Herald reported, Segal “recommends that the government withhold funding from cultural institutions and universities that do not tackle antisemitism”. And charities that “promote antisemitism” should not be able to receive tax-deductible gifts.

Just how dangerous are the recommendations is evident from Segal’s own words. She said she “will work with government to enable government funding to be withheld, where possible, from universities, programs or individuals within universities that facilitate, enable or fail to act against antisemitism". And while it is “vital to cultural richness and should be protected, funding provided by Australian taxpayers should not be used to promote division or spread false/distorted narratives".

The problem with what at first blush might seem reasonable statements, because we know that antisemitism has no place in Australia, is that there is a real risk of federal governments succumbing to relentless pressure from the Israel lobby and its media allies like The Australian in threatening, or actually, cutting funding because they are persuaded to conflate antisemitism with criticism of Israel and forms of Zionism.

What Segal is doing is Trumpian. That is no exaggeration. We know Trump is bullying universities, harassing NGOs and arts organisations and cultural figures all because they are exercising, or facilitating the exercise of, freedom of speech.

The Albanese Government must rule out any suggestion that it will link funding or tax-deductible status as a means of stamping out antisemitism. It would be a policy fraught with danger. It will, inevitably, lead to some self-censorship and fear among artists, academics and charitable groups. In short, Segal is treading into dangerous territory and essentially asking the Albanese Government to abandon its international human rights obligations.

Australia is a party to a number of international human rights treaties. The right to freedom of opinion and expression is contained in articles 19 and 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Of course, there are limits, which include outlawing antisemitism when it is genuinely present.

There is also the implied freedom of political communication developed by the High Court over three decades. In 2017, Bob Brown, founder of the Australian Greens, was successful in challenging a Tasmanian Government law that criminalised protests. The High Court said the Tasmanian law, which prohibited “protest activity” on certain land (including forest land), was not “reasonably appropriate and adapted” to the legitimate end of protecting business from protest.

One can imagine weak university administrators imposing draconian regulations to prevent students and academics from various forms of speech and expression about Gaza, Israel’s apartheid policies and its military’s commission of war crimes. And disciplining through suspensions, expulsions and sackings those students and staff it deems to have crossed the arbitrary and capricious line. Some challenge to them is inevitable.

Segal also says public institutions in Australia should adopt the appalling International Holocaust Remembrance Association’s definition of antisemitism.

Two years ago, a phalanx of respected human rights groups such as B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the American Civil Liberties Union wrote to the United Nations warning about the perniciousness of this definition.

The groups wrote: “Adoption of the definition by governments and institutions is often framed as an essential step in efforts to combat antisemitism. In practice, however, the IHRA definition has often been used to wrongly label criticism of Israel as antisemitic, and thus chill, and sometimes suppress, non-violent protest, activism and speech critical of Israel and/or Zionism, including in the US and Europe.”

So you can see Segal’s real agenda. It is to close down strident, but legitimate, criticism of Israel and its policies through a variety of mechanisms.

What is extraordinary is that the Albanese Government appointed Segal at all. She has form for advocating censorship and suppressing the rights of pro-Palestinian supporters to express their views. Last December, she called for an end to weekly protests in city areas. “That is not to in any way attack the right of people to express their views, but at some point [protests] every single week becomes intimidatory in the city.” A dangerous and frankly outrageous view from someone in her position.

The position of antisemitism envoy should have been given to someone who respects human rights, and who would not even think of resorting to funding threats to bring institutions and individuals “into line”.

Let’s hope Albanese’s Government ignores this serious threat to core liberal democratic values. If it doesn’t, then Australian democracy will be weakened, yet again.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.