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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.
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 “most popular and fastest-growing sports”.
The former Football Federation Australia chair, who was tasked in 2003 by then-prime minister John Howard with professionalising soccer, detailed how he was “involved in a positive change in Australian sport that has parallels with the issues currently before the royal commission”.
“Through 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,” Lowy’s submission says. “It shows how social change can take effect and bind a community.”
In line with Howard’s 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 – among others – were born. The league has now expanded to 12 teams.
“Each team had players from mix of backgrounds and were miniature versions of multicultural Australia,” Lowy’s submission says. “Their fans of all ethnicities entered through the same gate. The ‘wogball’ tag vanished, and more teams were established.”
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.
“Our world presence improved, as did the quality of competition. The cumulative effect of all the change shifted the perception of Australian football,” Lowy’s submission says.
“Its Australian identity was baked in. We had achieved cohesion and professionalised the sport.”
Lowy’s submission says despite previous failed attempts to “de-ethicise the game” it was strong government support, funding and leadership that ultimately changed soccer in Australia.
“In 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,” it says.
“Generous sponsorship from big business followed, so did broadcasting deals [and] early generations of compatriots had passed, leaving children and grandchildren more amenable to change.”
He says to “bring back Australian decency we need cultural confidence”.
“This 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.
“Done well, it would snowball as it moved through the country, reaching everyone from kindergarten to care homes.”
Lowy – who, after immigrating to Australia in the 1950s, amassed a fortune worth $9.7 billion through his shopping centre empire – was 13 and was trying to flee Hungary in 1944 when his father Hugo was detained and sent to his death at Auschwitz.
He says in his submission that he experienced very little antisemitism in his early years in Australia and “through 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”.
His submission says antisemitism gradually became more normalised here and “burst into the forecourt of Sydney’s Opera House on October 9, 2023.”
“People seemed not to have understood the privilege of free speech and freely abused it.”
However, he says “just 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’t wait decades”.
“Football is a microcosm of Australian society and with modifications. What we achieved in this sport, we can achieve as a nation,” his submission says.
Former High Court judge Virginia Bell has heard two weeks of testimony from Jews on their lived experience with antisemitism in Australia.
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.
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.
There will also be a probe into security arrangements for the Hanukkah event as well as a focus on “how intelligence about individuals known to authorities is utilised and shared to inform decisions made by security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies”.
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