'
Coalition divided over hate laws despite liberal ‘solutions’ as Greens flag free speech concerns
International

Coalition divided over hate laws despite liberal ‘solutions’ as Greens flag free speech concerns

author
5 minutes, 7 seconds Read

The opposition has spoken out about Labour’s anti-hate laws after Liberal amendments created a path to passing the legislation, despite criticism that it could undermine freedom of expression.
The package of reforms, introduced in response to the terrorist attack on Bondiis likely to pass the Senate late Tuesday night after receiving Liberal support, but will have to return to the lower house Wednesday morning for the changes to be approved.
It is unclear how National Party senators will vote after most party members chose to abstain from voting in the lower house, with the exception of MPs Llew O’Brien and Colin Boyce, who voted against the bill.
Nationals leader David Littleproud said he would bring forward the party’s changes to avoid “unintended consequences”.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley claims the Liberals have “fixed” the legislation, with changes that will “close loopholes and restore clarity and accountability.”

The Liberal proposal is believed to include a stronger crackdown on extremist preachers and dangerous hate groups.

Greens leader Larissa Waters is critical of hate speech laws, saying they suppress freedom of expression. Source: MONKEY / Jono Searle

The Greens have said they would not support hate speech legislation because of the effect it could have on political commentary, including protests.

“What we have now seen in the last 24 hours is a dangerous bill being made even more dangerous,” party leader Larissa Waters said.
Home Secretary Tony Burke has defended the laws, saying they would harm “racist bigotry” and not freedom of expression.

“I don’t accept that racist bigotry falls within the realm of free speech, I just don’t,” he told ABC News.

“I will spend my life in Australia without receiving racist bigotry, but that is not the case for many Australians. Some of those in the free speech community are people who will never have a racist word said to them.”
However, he also acknowledged that the reforms were “not as strong as the government wanted”.
Labor was forced to separate hate crime laws from gun reforms to secure Liberal and Green support for the separate pieces of legislation.
The government also removed racist defamation provisions from anti-hate laws this weekend. These provisions would have done that incitement to hatred is punishable against another person or group on the basis of race, color or national or ethnic origin.

What are the coalition’s proposed changes?

SBS News understands the Liberals are seeking several changes, including expanding a new aggravated offense for extremist preachers and leaders with guest speakers who spread hate or violent extremist views.

Under the government’s proposal, a religious official or spiritual leader caught advocating or threatening violence against groups, in the capacity of a preacher or religious teacher, could face a prison sentence of up to 12 years.

The hate speech laws introduce a framework that will allow the Home Secretary to ban groups that commit or advocate hate crimes based on race, nationality or ethnic origin.
The provisions set a high bar: the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization will be required to write a letter to the Home Secretary to ban a group. A listing also requires the consent of the Attorney General.
Once a group is banned, it is a criminal offense to be a member of the group, participate in its activities, participate in recruitment or training, or provide support or financial support to the group.

The opposition is seeking an amendment that would require the coalition leader to be consulted on the listing or delisting of extremist organizations, saying it is necessary to have a bipartisan approach to such national security issues.

Matt Canavan in suit and tie

Senator Matt Canavan says he will not support hate speech reforms. Source: MONKEY / Mick Tsikas

The Liberals want new powers to be reviewed every two years by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, definitions of hate crimes to be tightened and new migration changes to be used decisively to remove extremists from the community.

Littleproud confirmed he “sees merit” in changes to the Migration Act, which will increase the Home Secretary’s power to refuse or revoke visas on a variety of grounds, including where individuals have previously publicly spread hatred or extremism.

“We are also sympathetic and want to align with the intent of banning hate groups, but we need to make sure there are no unintended consequences in terms of the legislation, and how that interacts and how far-reaching that goes,” he told ABC’s 7:30 on Monday night.

Senator Matt Canavan plans to vote against the reform package. He claims the framework for banning radical groups such as the Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir and the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network would give the Home Secretary and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) unnecessary powers.

“I have serious concerns that the provisions here to ban entire organizations, to make them persona non grata, are far too broad and, in particular, give the minister, the AFP minister in this case, far too much power to ban groups that go well beyond organizations that would encourage or support acts of violence in our country,” he told ABC radio on Tuesday morning.

Weapons system reforms must be implemented with the support of the Greens

Burke presented the government’s gun reforms to parliament, which will limit the number of firearms over a two-year buyback period, review licensing requirements and introduce stricter safety checks.

Burke explained how implementation of the laws would have prevented permits for the two gunmen who opened fire at a Hannukah event in Bondi, killing 15 people.

“The father would not have been eligible because he was not a citizen. The firearms they used would not have been available to them. And the son who did not have a firearms license in any case would have been part of the licensing decisions if he had attempted any intelligence asset relating to him,” he said.
“No one is saying that the handling of weapons is about everything that happened at Bondi, but it is about the method, and we have to deal with the method.”
The gun reforms have the support of the Greens in the House of Lords and are expected to be adopted on Tuesday.

#Coalition #divided #hate #laws #liberal #solutions #Greens #flag #free #speech #concerns

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *