The Australian National University (ANU) has been interrogated at a parliamentary inquiry for denying a student was recorded making a Nazi salute during a student union meeting.
At an inquiry into antisemitism on university campuses on Wednesday, the Labor MP and chair, Josh Burns, was incredulous as to how the university came to that finding, after he looked at footage of the 2024 union meeting.
“What else was it?” Burns asked the ANU vice chancellor, professor Genevieve Bell, going on to say he was “completely astounded”.
“Please help me understand how that was not a Nazi salute,” he said.
The ANU Students’ Association (ANUSA) meeting in question was attended by around 500 people in May last year. It received widespread media coverage after video footage was circulated allegedly showing a student performing what appeared to be a Nazi salute and another allegedly mimicking a Hitler moustache.
One student was removed from the online Zoom meeting, which included debate of ANU’s ongoing pro-Palestine encampment and the experience of Jewish students on campus, because of their conduct.
Bell told the hearing the incident was reported through ANU’s disciplinary proceedings and an investigation was launched. It found “there had not been a Nazi salute or a Hitler moustache,” she said.
“There were a number of other pieces of that story that were not immediately clear,” she said. “The investigation, which was a thorough one and we do thoroughly investigate these issues … found there was not, in fact, an incident.”
Bell said the university did not discuss “pieces of individual cases”. She said “multiple other pieces of evidence … of vision” formed part of the inquiry and those items were not reported in news accounts.
The deputy academic vice chancellor at ANU, Grady Venville, conceded that she agreed with Burns “at a superficial level”, which was why a thorough investigation had been conducted.
“On a superficial level we have what appears to be a terrible, terrible antisemitic incident and it’s completely unacceptable,” she said.
Burns replied there was “no such thing as a superficial Nazi salute”.
“It’s either a Nazi salute or it’s not,” he said.
The ANU was separately questioned during the inquiry as to why another student who had pledged their “unconditional support” for Hamas on ABC radio had been reinstated to the university after initially being expelled.
Bell said the expulsion had been overturned on appeal.
“I am satisfied that the disciplinary process and the appeals process continue to work but I also know those are processes that like everything else should be regularly reviewed and updated,” she said.
Asked by Burns if ANU would review or update their process on the basis the student appealed and was allowed back on campus after they “glorified a terrorist organisation”, Bell replied that ANU regularly reviewed all its processes.
She said the university would seek to balance academic speech and freedom of speech with psychosocial harm.
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The Australian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) co-president, Danielle Tischmann, said Jewish students at the meeting weren’t offered psychological support, consulted or interviewed during the disciplinary process which was part of the investigation.
She said the first they heard the matter had been concluded was from ANU’s testimony on Wednesday.
AUJS acknowledged the need for confidentiality in a disciplinary proceeding, she said. “However, considering the appearance of a faulty process alongside the damning evidence, we cannot be confident in the university’s decision.
“Lack of communication and failure to be forthcoming with information like this … continues to erode trust between Jewish students and university administration, which prevents students from reporting antisemitic incidents in the first place.”
ANU’s pro-Palestine encampment was disbanded in August after more than 100 days, making it the longest-running in Australia.
In its submission to the inquiry, the university said 10 incidents of alleged antisemitism had been reported by students in the past year, while four were reported by staff.
The ANUSA incoming president, Will Burfoot, said while the body was confident in the process ANU took for the incident, the university had a “broader responsibility” to its students to proactively look after their wellbeing and safety.
“The safety of our meetings is of ongoing importance to ANUSA, and we will be undertaking additional measures this year to ensure our meetings remain safe,” he said.
“Antisemitism, racism, and discrimination of any kind are unacceptable, students expect and deserve these matters to be taken seriously.”
Also appearing before the inquiry was the vice chancellor of the University of Sydney, professor Mark Scott, who faced calls to resign from some Jewish groups and the Coalition over the university’s leadership during the encampments.
Scott reiterated that “we did not get everything right” after the 7 October attacks by Hamas on Israel. But he said that complaints from students had “dramatically reduced” since its pro-Palestine encampment was disestablished last year and a string of new policies were introduced to crack down on protests.
“There will be demonstrations, there will be debate, but we need to create safe spaces as well,” he told the inquiry. “Freedom of speech and academic freedoms are not unfettered rights, they need to apply within the rule of the land.”
The National Union of Students (NUS) president, Ashlyn Horton, said antisemitic incidents had increased on campuses since 7 October but did not attribute this to pro-Palestine encampments.
