The government is facing pressure to split up hate crime speech laws from gun reform ahead of parliament’s early return to pass the legislation next week.
The peak body for Jewish Australians has joined calls from the Opposition to break up the complex legislation, despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reiterating that the bill had to address several issues simultaneously.
“The terrorists at Bondi Beach had hatred in their minds, but guns in their hands, and this bill will get rid of both of these issues,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
At 6.41pm on Sunday 14 December, two gunmen — who police allege were father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram — parked a car near a footbridge overlooking Bondi Beach’s Arthur Park, where a Hanukkah event had begun earlier that evening, and opened fire, claiming the lives of 15 people.
During an interview with SBS News, Peter Wertheim, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, voiced his concerns that the extensive nature of the proposed legislation could jeopardize its approval.
“I think it would have been wiser to split them up,” Wertheim said.
“I know the argument will be made that they both relate to combating hatred and extremism, and in a broad sense, that’s true, but when you get down into the detail of what these provisions are all about, they are about fundamentally different subjects.”
Wertheim commended the government for several “positive features” within the legislation, highlighting the establishment of a framework to criminalize hate groups and the introduction of a serious vilification offense, which would impose up to five years of imprisonment for those inciting racial hatred.
“Considering the issue at hand, where Islamic terrorists targeted Australian Jews, this was a direct assault on our Jewish community. Removing firearms from law-abiding citizens is not the right solution,” he stated.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, a gun owner, has criticised removing firearms from everyday Australians as a result of an attack inspired by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group.
“Unfortunately, the Prime Minister has chosen to play politics with this bill, he’s lumped migration changes in with the management of firearms and obviously in with hate speech laws,” she told ABC’s Radio National on Wednesday morning.
He emphasized the necessity of not only making hate crimes illegal and increasing penalties but also ensuring that firearms are restricted from those who should not have access to them.
Labor MP Josh Burns, who is Jewish, says it is time for the Opposition to demonstrate its criticism of hate and antisemitism inside parliament.
“Those words will be very hollow if the Liberal Party doesn’t come in and support us,” Burns told ABC’s Radio National on Wednesday morning.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has less than a week to assess the proposed laws. In an uncommon move, this typically confidential committee is conducting public hearings to gather input from relevant agencies.
Concerns over ‘rushed’ hate speech law review
The government was criticised last month by the Opposition for its response to the Bondi attack and faced backlash in the community for delays in calling a royal commission into antisemitism,
Now it faces criticism over the truncated timeframe for consulting and reviewing the hate speech laws.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has less than a week to review the laws, with the usually secret committee holding public hearings to receive evidence from relevant agencies.
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) has hit back at the 72-hour consultation period, calling for the government to defer tabling the legislation until more inclusive consultation, given the “broad impact they could have on the Muslim community”.
The group’s reservations include a lack of clarity and potential overreach in new criminal penalties, concerns that specific communities are targeted in the legislation and a failure to include religion under new vilification offences.
“If the legislation is truly intended to address hate in all its forms, then the communities most likely to be impacted must be at the table, not as an afterthought, but as genuine partners in shaping the response,” AFIC said in a statement.
