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Good morning and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Tuesday, the twentieth of January. I'm Emma Gillespie, I'm Billy fitz Simons. Federal Parliament will today debate new hate speech and gun control legislation in the wake of the Bondi terror attack that killed fifteen innocent people last month.
Honoring the heroes of Bondi also means standing together against that evil that inflicted this devastation, standing together against hatred, standing together against division, and working together to eradicate any semitism.
The government initially planned to introduce a single bill covering multiple reforms, but widespread opposition has forced it to split the legislation into two bills. Today we are going to be down what's in these bills and why they've proven so controversial.
So, Emma, it's not exactly normal that Parliament sits in January, but the Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi brought parliamentarians back specifically for this legislation.
Right exactly. So you're right, Billy. We don't often see legislation being tabled at this time of year. But Parliament was recalled in the wake of the fourteen December Bondi terror attack, when two gunmen targeted a Jewish celebration, killing fifteen innocent people. Now, that attack sparked immediate calls for stronger laws to combat both anti semitism and hate speech.
We've seen a real growing kind of conversation around the need to do something about these attacks, and that came to a head when the government announced plans to table legislation. It initially announced that it would introduce what it called an omnibus bill. Now that's just a term that basically means one large piece of legislation that covers multiple policy areas.
This bill was going to include tougher hate speech laws as well as strengthened gun control measures, lots of reforms all in one package.
Okay, and I know now it's not one package. But I think how we should explain this is explain what the bill initially was, yep, and then we can get to how it's now changed. But let's start with the initial omnibus bill that they were going to introduce.
So that bill, called the Combating Anti Semitism, Hate and Extremism Bill, was described by the Attorney General Michelle Roland as the toughest hate laws Australia has ever seen. You may have heard some MPs calling it the biggest reforms and changes to national security and hate speech laws since nine to eleven. Now, on the hate speech side, it sought to significantly increase penalties for hate motivated offenses, including jail terms of up to twelve years for what the
government called hate preachers. So new penalties for inciting hatred would have created a new standalone offense for publicly promoting or inciting hatred on the basis of race or ethnicity, racial vilification. The bill also proposed a national framework to list prohibited hate groups, similarly to how terrorist organizations are
currently listed. We heard from Azio on that reform, essentially saying that a lot of groups were operating just outside the law or skirting around the law, but ultimately inciting violence, and that this bill would kind of similarly list those groups in the same way that terror organizations are treated.
Right, So that is the hate speech half of that initial bill. But then there was also a gun reform half. What was that part?
Yes, So the bill proposed a buyback scheme to reduce the number of guns right across the country. Owners would be allowed to surrender their guns, they receive at tax exempt compensation for doing so, and the Australian Federal Police would then oversee the destruction of those surrendered weapons. The government's legislation also proposed a new background check system for gun license holders. We heard a little bit about this
at the end of last year. Essentially, this would allow authorities to reassess someone's suitability to hold a gun license if new information emerges outside the normal renewal period. We heard the Prime Minister say, you know, just because someone is granted a gun license at one point in their life, it doesn't mean that things don't change. It doesn't mean
that they can't become radicalized later in their lives. Finally, under the bill, the Home Affairs Minister could also refuse or cancel visas for non citizens who are associated with terrorist or prohibited hate groups, have engaged in hate motivated conduct even without a conviction, or publicly promote racist or extremist views that are deemed to pose a risk to community. So we had the buyback changing background checks and some new powers for the Home Affairs Minister.
Okay, so that is what Labour initially intended to introduce the hate speech laws and the gun reform laws. They wanted to introduce them together. Yeah, but in order to do that they did need support from elsewhere in the Parliament and they haven't exactly got that right, that's correct.
So Labor has a majority in the lower house, the House of Representatives, but to pass legislation through the Senate, it needs the support of either the Greens or the Coalition. So you're exactly right, Billy. The government ended up facing such strong opposition from all sides of politics that it was forced to split that omnibus legislation into two bills. One bill focuses on the hate speech reforms and the other on gun reforms.
And so why did the Coalition and the Greens oppose the legislation And just to be clear, they opposed the hate speech part of the legislation, not necessarily the gun one.
Right, Well, most of the objections do relate to the hate speech reforms, you're right, but both sides had very different objection to the reforms. So Opposition leader Susan Lee had called the bill half baked. She said it was rushed and ultimately that it doesn't address what she called the root causes of the Bondie attack Islamic extremism or rising antisemitism. The coalition was particularly concerned about a racial vilification loophole in the bill that we'll get into more later.
They argued that that could allow religious leaders to avoid hate speech charges if they were directly quoting from a religious text. Lee also said the coalition wants to enshrine a formal definition of antisemitism in law, which this bill did not include.
Okay, so that is the coalition's criticism of the hate speech part of the potential reforms. What about the Greens?
The Greens had different concerns, but relating to the same parts of the legislation. Greens leader Larissa Wards ultimately said the bill could have unintended consequences and be weaponized to shut down legitimate political protest. And the Greens all so argued that making it easier for the Home Affairs Minister to cancel visas because someone might commit an offense is not a credible legal test.
Okay. We briefly said before that in response to this criticism, they have split the legislation in half. Right, That was their solution.
That was the solution we heard that announced over the weekend, and ultimately this is kind of a strategic move because we did learn late last week that the Greens would support the gun law reforms in the omnibus legislation. So the government has kind of responded to that and said, well, we know we can pass the gun law reforms, so let's split them out and let's work on the hate speech reforms and see if we can get them across.
So it means that the government can at least get one part of its response to the Bondi terror attack through Parliament.
And then will they make changes to the hate speech part of the initial bill.
Well, it first of all should be mentioned that a lot of the bill has stayed the same. So we've split out the hate speech reforms, but so of the initial legislation or reforms are still in there. That includes the visa cancelation powers tougher penalties for hate motivated offenses up to twelve years in jail, but publicly or promoting or inciting hatred based on race or ethnicity has been removed from this new legislation. That was a reform that had caused a lot of controversy I understand.
So that's how they've changed it. Not only have they split the bill in half, but then they've also amended the hate speech part. Yes, so why was that part taken away?
So this has been one of the most controversial aspects to this legislation, to the conversation going on politically, The original bill included laws around racial vilification and an exemption. You may have heard this discussed as a loophole. So under the initial proposal, it would be illegal to incite or promote hatred on the grounds of race, color, or national or ethnic origin unless and this is a big unless,
unless someone is directly quoting from a religious text. Now, the Executive Council of Australian Jury raised concerns about this loophole and said invoking religion as an excuse to dehumanize and mistreat others simply on the basis of who they are must surely be a thing of the past. The
Coalition was concerned about this loophole. It was also divided about whether this law would restrict free speech, and the Greens wanted to see the scope of this reform actually broadened to include LGBTQIA plus groups and people with disabilities, as well as other minority groups. We heard from independent MP Alegrispender. Her electorate actually includes the Bondai area and she had raised the same issue as the Greens, but said she'd still support the bill because Jewish community safety
is paramount now. To use her words, Spender and several other independents, the group known as the Teals have actually called on the Coalition and Greens to support what they acknowledge is an imperfect bill but to quote, w work on it together to get it right.
Okay, So where does that leave us today? Do you think that this bill will pass?
Well?
We now know that that racial vilification offense has been removed, which hypothetically gives the Coalition some of what they were asking for, but it's really unclear at the time of recording. The gun reform bill will almost certainly pass, we know that because the Greens have said they'll support it, but these hate speech laws still look to be in significant trouble. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Miles said yesterday that the Coalition
are hopelessly divided. He's kind of politically attacking their lack of unification at the moment in terms of being able to articulate the amendments that they want. Miles said, we need to work with a partner here, but right now the coalition has not appeared. Opposition leader Susan Lee called the legislation unsalvagable last week. Her biggest argument really was that this was too rushed. It's all being pushed through too quickly, and that important aspects are being missed and
therefore the coalition cannot support the legislation. Since Albanesi announced that the reforms would be split in two, we really haven't gotten a clear cut answer from the coalition as to where they will fall.
And I saw yesterday that Prime Minister Anthony Alberesi, I know this is maybe again confusing, but he was then critical of Opposition leader Susan Lee, saying that this was all rushed.
Right. Yes. One of the political conversations that's emerged from this is, you know, we did hear from the coalition quite a lot between December fourteenth and last week, really really calling for and pushing for action. Albanesi is saying essentially that he's stunned at the criticism for these reforms because the coalition said it wanted urgent action. Albanesi now saying they can't complain about the timing because they're responding
to those calls. Cabinet Minister Murray what said yesterday the government is negotiating with the coalition and is very hopeful that they'll support these laws. But what made it really clear that if the legislation doesn't have enough support to pass, the government does not want to engage in a debate that could potentially become really divisive and hateful at a
time when the country does not need it. Albanzi has asked MPs to look for reasons to agree rather than disagree, but with such fundamental differences between the parties, it's really hard to see how that will happen quickly.
So what happens next.
Albanzi was asked at a press conference this week if this was the last chance to pass hate speech laws, and he said, correct, this is the last chance. The government does not want to continue pushing for something that the rest of the Parliament won't agree with, So if it fails today, the government has kind of said that's it. There's so much uncertainty, Billy, but I do think it's worth quickly touching on a perhaps rare moment of bipartisanship.
Yesterday on Monday, we saw Parliament come together to observe a minute's silence before the PM moved a condolence motion for the victims of the Bondai terror attack. We heard quite moving addresses from all sides of the political aisle and his a little bit of what Prime Minister said to end today's episode on.
We must continue to raise our voices against the silence because while the massacre at Bondai Beach was cruel and senseless, it was not random. Jewish Australians were the target. As we offer our love, sympathy and solidarity to everyone bearing the weight of trauma and loss, we make it clear to every Jewish Australian you are not alone.
Emma, thank you for breaking that down for us. We will obviously be watching closely to see what happens in Parliament today. It will be a very big day in Parliament and thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Daily OS. We'll be back this afternoon with your evening headlines, but until then, we hope you have a good day. My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda Banjelung Kalgotin woman from Gadigl country.
The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gadighl people and respect to all Aboriginal and torrest Rate island and nations. We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present.