Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticized opposition members of parliament for their reluctance to endorse the government’s proposed reforms on hate speech and gun control. He accused the Coalition of prioritizing political maneuvering over public safety in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach terror incident.
The upcoming parliamentary session, set to commence early next week, will focus on deliberating the new legislation. Lawmakers were presented with the draft on Monday, outlining the government’s intentions to tighten regulations on speech deemed antisocial yet not presently illegal, as described by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
In an interview with Today, Burke emphasized the importance of the reforms, pointing out that the Bondi attack was not carried out by a recreational shooter. “This isn’t about targeting lawful gun owners,” he clarified, underscoring the need to address the root causes of such violence.
Meanwhile, Barnaby Joyce, a prominent opposition figure, argued that the focus should be on tackling “fundamentalist Islam,” attributing the issue partly to immigration. His remarks, however, overlooked that one of the suspects involved in the Bondi incident was born in Australia.
“But somehow we’ve got wrapped up this.”
Joyce said “fundamentalist Islam” was the issue that needed to be addressed, blaming immigration – though one of the alleged Bondi terrorists was Australian-born.
Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie has also decried the gun control aspects of the bill, which would limit firearm ownership and establish a gun buyback scheme.
Albanese hit out at the Coalition this morning, accusing MPs of hypocrisy.
”This is somewhat stunning, frankly. The Coalition, day after day, very clearly called for parliament to be recalled,” he told ABC Radio Sydney.
“Now they’re saying this is somehow rushed, even though my government has moved in a considered, orderly way.”
Albanese said he had met with opposition leader Sussan Ley regularly in the lead-up to recalling parliament, and that the government was very open to considering amendments.
”We’ve said we’re open to amendments in order to be sure to get this right,” he said.
“We haven’t heard any proposed amendments.”
He urged MPs with concerns or proposed changes to “pick up the phone” and “engage constructively”.
”I’ll just say to the Coalition, this should be a moment of national unity, and I say that to the crossbenchers and Greens as well,” he said.
Should the Coalition broadly oppose the bill in parliament, the government could need to reach an agreement with the Greens, to push the legislation through the Senate.
The other option would be making alterations to reach a stage where the Coalition could support both the hate speech and gun control laws.
9news.com.au has contacted the prime minister’s office and attorney-general’s office for comment.
