Jewish Organizations Rally to Reform Hate Crime Legislation: A Call for Change

Share this @internewscast.com

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.

In a conversation with SBS News, Peter Wertheim, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, voiced concerns over the extensive reach of proposed legislation, suggesting it might impede its successful passage.

“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.”

Despite these concerns, Wertheim commended the government for introducing several commendable elements, including a framework aimed at criminalizing hate groups and establishing a new offense for serious vilification. This legislation would impose penalties of up to five years in prison for individuals inciting racial hatred.

Reflecting on the underlying issues, Wertheim noted, “The problem we’re addressing here is rooted in incidents where Islamic terrorists targeted Australian Jewish individuals. This was a direct assault on our Jewish community in Australia. Removing firearms from law-abiding citizens isn’t the correct course of action.”

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 making hate crimes illegal and increasing associated penalties, while also ensuring that firearms are kept out of the hands of those who should not possess 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 under a week to evaluate the proposed laws. In an unusual move, this typically confidential committee is conducting public hearings to gather input from pertinent 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.