Share and Follow
Support for the federal government’s sweeping hate speech reforms has collapsed, with the Greens revealing they will not support the proposed changes.
Those concerns included the “potential for unintended consequences, unanswered questions about the impact on political freedoms, and the exclusion of many groups from its protections”.
However, the minor party says it will pass the proposed gun law reforms put forward in the package.
“The Greens are willing to work with the government to pass gun laws next week but the rest of the omnibus bill needs a huge amount of work,” party leader Larissa Waters said on Saturday.
As time progresses, apprehensions grow among legal authorities, faith-based organizations, and community members about the implications of the Omnibus bill.
“This is complex legislation, with a lot of massive pitfalls and omissions, and the process to fix it can’t be rushed.”
Greens justice and home affairs spokesperson David Shoebridge said the bill was “divisive” and failed to bring the community together, accusing the government of “scapegoating” migrants.
“Feedback from experts and the community highlights significant flaws in nearly every component of this bill, particularly those addressing immigration, the listing of organizations, and hate speech,” remarked the senator.
Government ‘open to amendments’
“The prime minister has made clear: we are open to amendments, we would like to see national unity, we would like to see the coalition and the Greens act responsibly,” foreign minister Penny Wong said.
Proposed in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, the reforms include measures such as cracking down on hate preachers, introducing hate speech and racial vilification offences and creating a national gun buyback scheme.
But legal experts, Jewish groups and influential religious leaders have criticised the bill as too rushed and broad, with the coalition also confirming it would not support it.
The Greens raised concerns earlier in the week that the legislation could have unintended consequences, including provisions that would make it easier for the home affairs minister to cancel people’s visas on character grounds.
“We are willing to sit down with the government to find a way forward, but it’s clear the amount of negotiations and legal analysis required to produce a good outcome can’t be done in the extremely tight time-frame the government has created,” Waters said.
“It may be simpler to start afresh with a bill that aims to protect everyone from hatred and discrimination.”
