New hate speech laws cracking down on ‘dehumanising’ rhetoric will go to constitutional limit, Tony Burke says | Bondi beach terror attack

Home Secretary Tony Burke said new hate speech laws would be drafted to the limits of the constitution to capture the “utterly inhumane” rhetoric used by so-called “hate preachers”.

But while Burke said he believed it was “horrible” that protesters were chanting “globalise the intifada”, he could not confirm whether the phrase would be outlawed under legislation to be fast-tracked in the wake of the Bondi beach massacre.

The comments came as independent MP Allegra Harcayici, whose electorate includes Bondi Beach, called on the government to expand its crackdown on hate speech to detect slurs against other minorities, including LGBTQ+ people.

The federal government this week announced a five-step plan to urgently strengthen hate speech laws to combat antisemitism, following allegations that Sajid Akram and his son Naveed shot 15 people and injured dozens at a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday night.

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On Friday, Anthony Albanese said there was new evidence to suggest the worst terror attack in Australia’s history was inspired by the Islamic State.

Some of the measures announced on Thursday will target so-called “hate preachers”, including an aggravated hate speech charge for preachers and leaders who incite violence, and a new regime to list organizations whose leaders practice hate speech that incites violence or racial hatred.

Burke said some preachers used “utterly inhumane” language but managed to escape punishment because the rhetoric stayed away from advocating physical violence.

The minister said the government wants to lower the threshold for hate speech, but is undecided on whether slogans such as “globalize the intifada” will be accepted.

New South Wales treasurer Daniel Mookhey said the slogan, which means uprising or resistance and is used by Palestinians to describe uprisings against Israel, was an example of hate speech. They have been seen and heard at some protests in Australia, but “free Palestine” chants and slogans are more common.

Asked on ABC radio whether “globalizing the intifada” could be classified as hate speech, Burke said: “What I can’t do is play the game of this sentence going in, this sentence going out, these words going in, these words going out.”

“We will lower the threshold to the extent we are constitutionally able to do so and this will be the strongest step forward in making hate speech illegal in Australia.”

The Constitution does not explicitly protect freedom of expression, but the high court upheld this decision. implied political right communication.

There are already state laws that criminalize serious slurs of race or religion and laws that provide for federal civil penalties for libel under the Racial Discrimination Act.

The government did not select organizations that could be listed under the new hate speech regime; however, the Islamic political organization Hizb ut Tahrir and the neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network may be possible targets.

Luke Beck, professor of constitutional law at Monash University, said the legislation would not normally contain specific wording but would include a definition that courts could rule against.

“They usually frame [legislation] “They use these definitions of concepts around a concept, whether it’s promoting hatred or violent ridicule or condemning people based on their race, and then it’s up to the courts to work it out in a particular context: ‘Is this what happened?'” he said.

The government also plans to ban “serious libel” based on race and/or racial supremacy.

The spending calls for the “narrow” offense to be expanded beyond race and religion to include slurs against other minorities, including LGBTQ+ individuals.

“No community should be targeted or allow hatred to build against any part of our community,” he told Guardian Australia.

“They shouldn’t just focus on religion and race, I believe it needs to be broader and certainly include the LGBTQ+ community, because we’ve seen some neo-Nazi rhetoric against the trans community, for example… they need protection from hate.”

Spender pressed for a broad anti-defamation provision to be included in hate crimes laws passed by parliament in February, but this provision was removed from the original draft after a backlash from some faith groups.

These laws, which the government is proposing to strengthen in less than 12 months, create a new offense involving the threat of use of force or violence against people because of their religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and nationality, national or ethnic origin or political opinion.