Bipartisan backing for tougher hate-speech penalties
The coalition has signalled it is willing to work alongside the government to strengthen hate-speech laws, amid rising levels of anti-Semitism.
Dan Tehan
The federal government is working through a new bill protecting people from hate speech based on attributes such as race, gender, religion, sex or sexuality.
While the laws would strengthen protections against hate speech, the final form of the laws is yet to be determined.
Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said the coalition was prepared to work with the government on the proposal.
He said there was a need to address anti-Semitism in the community.
“We look forward to working with the government in a bipartisan way to deal with this issue and, in particular, to deal with anti-Semitism, which we’re seeing sadly grow and grow in this nation,” Mr Tehan told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
It comes as Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said anti-Semitic incidents had reached levels in Australia not seen in his lifetime.
The comments followed the Mount Scopus Memorial College in Melbourne being vandalised, with graffiti scrawled on its perimeter fence on Saturday.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud said he understood there were pressures in the Middle East but Australian communities needed to maintain cohesion.
“I get there’s tension in the Middle East but it should stay in the Middle East – that needs to stay there,” Mr Littleproud told reporters in Canberra.
“What we saw on the weekend was abhorrent – I mean that sort of stuff we saw back in the 30s and 40s.”
Mr Littleproud said the coalition would need to see the contents of the bill before they offered support.
“We’re not going to rush into this,” he said.
“We need to see the detail and make sure there’s no unintended consequences and then we get the balance right between this great thing that we have called freedom of speech and democracy.”
Co-CEO of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Peter Wertheim said: “Current Federal criminal laws against racially motivated violence, incitement and vilification have been shown to be unfit for purpose. Time and again, we have seen gross examples of anti-Jewish hate speech on our campuses and streets and online go unpunished. No one has been prosecuted and there is no deterrence.
These laws need to be expanded so as to proscribe advocating or promoting violence, and advocating or promoting hatred, on the basis of race or other personal attributes. At the moment we have a patchwork of different Commonwealth, State and Territory laws which have been ineffective. The damage to Australia’s social fabric has been enormous. We have seen teenagers whose emotions have been stoked with hatred charged with terror offences, and Australians of different backgrounds pitted against one another.
Only tough Commonwealth legislation can provide the consistency of approach across Australia that is needed to convey a strong message against hate speech. We also need new legislation against doxxing. In addition, the powers and resources of the eSafety Commissioner, whose remit at present does not include acting against online hate speech, need to be expanded.
The review of section 93Z of the NSW Crimes Act has never been more urgent, but it is only one part of the bigger legislative framework. Commonwealth, State and Territory governments need to be working together to address the problem of hate speech systematically, not piecemeal.”
Story: Kat Wong and Andrew Brown/AAP with J-Wire
Well-spoken, Peter Wertheim. Absolutely spot on. What we have at the moment is a mish-mash of nothingness, completely ineffectual and therefore dangerous for what may occur, indeed is occurring.