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- Home affairs minister said the group has been spreading hate “for a long time”.
- The Islamist group has also been banned in many other countries.
The Australian government has officially prohibited the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir, declaring it illegal to be a member or to financially support the organization.
This designation as a hate group is the first under new hate speech reforms introduced by the Labor government, which came in the aftermath of the Bondi terror attack.
The newly implemented laws empower the government to disband extremist groups and are designed to reduce the influence of antisemitic hate speakers and neo-Nazi factions.
Authorities had previously indicated that these laws could be applied to criminalize extremist groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir and the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is already banned in several other nations, including Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the United Kingdom.
The hate group listing took effect on Thursday under the new framework, and the maximum penalty for association with the group is 15 years in prison.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement on Friday it is designed to stop groups “from spreading hate and sowing the seeds of division in the community, that risks not only our social cohesion but the safety of Australians”.
“For a long time, Hizb ut-Tahrir has been able to spread hate and create a pathway for others to engage in violence,” he said.
Speaking to ABC Radio later on Friday morning, Burke clarified the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) recommended the ban, and it was then his decision to approve it.
“If the answer to that is yes, and there’s a view that banning them would provide general protection for the rest of the country, then the banning can happen and that takes effect today.”
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