Bondi victims to be remembered before hate law showdown
Politicians will return to Canberra early to pay their respects to the victims of the Bondi terror attack and rush to pass legislation to ensure it never happens again.
Parliament will meet on Monday to express condolences for the victims of the December 14 massacre, in which 15 people were killed by gunmen who targeted Jewish celebrations.
The House of Representatives will meet after the first two major polls of the year showed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s personal standing with voters has taken a hit since the Bondi tragedy.
The first News Poll for The Australian since November shows Mr Albanese’s personal approval rating is down five points to 42 per cent, while Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s is up two to 28 per cent.
The news poll showed One Nation (up 7 to 22 per cent) ahead of the coalition (down 3 to 21 per cent) in preliminary voting, with Labor down 4 to 32 per cent and the Greens down 1 to 12 per cent.
Resolve Political Monitor’s poll for Nine Newspapers in the wake of the Bondi massacre shows Mr Albanese’s approval rating falling five points to 35 per cent.
Labour’s primary vote fell two points to 30 per cent; followed by the coalition (stable at 28%), One Nation (up 2-18%) and the Greens (down 2-10%).
The government initially planned to introduce an omnibus bill criminalizing hate speech and strengthening gun laws; Then widespread opposition from political circles forced a move to split the law into two.
The firearms legislation will enable the promised gun buyback agreed in a national cabinet deal with states and territories to tighten gun laws in the wake of the attack.
One of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, was the licensed owner of six firearms, although his son and fellow attacker Naveed had previously been on ASIO’s radar for their links to Islamist extremists.
New figures from the Department of Home Affairs show there are a record 4.1 million firearms in Australia; This is more than the figure at the time of the Port Arthur massacre thirty years ago.
Both bills will be introduced to the House of Representatives on Tuesday morning and will be quickly sent to the Senate thanks to Labor’s majority in the lower house.
The parliamentary inquiry, called for a rapid review of the proposed legislation, is expected to report back by Monday morning.
The government expects gun legislation to become law with the support of the Greens, but the fate of hate speech is not that clear.
Labor hopes a deal can be reached with the opposition to pass the controversial legislation through the Senate on Tuesday evening, but senators are preparing for a marathon session that could stretch into Wednesday morning.
The Greens oppose the hate speech measures out of concern they would compromise political freedoms, such as the power to protest Israel’s war in Gaza, as well as changes that increase the interior minister’s power to cancel visas.
The coalition has signaled it is willing to save Labour’s “failing laws” but MPs are concerned about the impact on free speech even after the controversial racial slur component is removed.
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