One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has supported the Greens’ push to prevent Australians from watching the planned livestream of the execution of American mass shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.
Joyce condemned the Pentagon’s decision to broadcast the execution, which would be the first US firing-squad execution since the Second World War, describing it as “a blood-soaked spectacle out of ancient Rome”.
“This is Roman amphitheatre stuff, no, I don’t agree with it,” Joyce said during Question Time in parliament on Monday.
“We don’t have the death penalty in Australia, and I certainly don’t want children, or anyone for that matter, witnessing another human being shot by a firing squad.”
His comments aligned with the Greens, who say Australians should be blocked from accessing what they described as a “shocking and barbaric” livestream.
Greens communications spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young has written to eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, asking for steps to be taken to restrict access to the broadcast in Australia.
“Inaction on this will jeopardise millions of Australians’ online safety and expose both adults and children to this harmful content,” Hanson-Young wrote.
Joyce’s stance puts him at odds with his former Coalition colleagues, who have warned that enforcing such a ban could raise broader free-speech concerns.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce described the planned US execution livestream as “Roman amphitheatre stuff”
Joyce backed Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young (pictured), who urged eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant to pursue measures blocking access to the livestream in Australia
Nidal Malik Hasan (pictured) is due to be executed on December 3
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor declined to comment directly on the case, saying it was a matter for the United States.
Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson told the ABC that allowing violent content was “enormously problematic”, while also cautioning that censorship could have wider implications for the internet.
Labor minister Daniel Mulino welcomed earlier measures designed to protect social media users from harmful material, but questioned how authorities could specifically target the execution livestream.
“We need to walk a fine line with social media between imposing protections where appropriate and making sure that people have the freedom to express themselves,” he told the ABC.
“This is a difficult balance at times.”
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US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed last week that the public would be able to watch the execution on December 3.
Hasan faces the death penalty for killing 13 people and injuring 32 others during a shooting rampage at the Texas military base Fort Hood in 2009.
The execution would be the first carried out by the US military in 65 years and, if broadcast, would mark the first time a lawful execution had been publicly livestreamed in the United States.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth expressed support for making the execution available to stream
Meanwhile Vice President JD Vance confirmed he would not be watching the execution
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Should Aussies be able to watch the livestream execution?
The Pentagon’s decision to broadcast the execution has drawn widespread condemnation, with critics likening the move to the current Afghan and Iranian regimes.
Vice President JD Vance – a practising Catholic – confirmed that he wouldn’t be watching the execution but stopped short of criticising the decision to stream it.
‘Whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope the people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people,’ he told reporters.
‘That said, if it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it.’
Hegseth backed the execution stream while speaking with Real America’s Voice, telling the broadcaster it was important to understand the ‘serious consequences’ for such crimes.
He also claimed the execution would take place at Fort Hood and that the date was selected to coincide with the day of the massacre.
‘He’s going to get a firing squad of soldiers as it should be,’ Hegseth said.
Hasan will face the firing squad in a wheelchair, according to reports.
He was partly paralysed after he was shot by a police officer during his arrest.