Labor’s hate speech laws set to pass as Ley and Albanese cut deal on bill crafted in wake of Bondi terror attack | Australian politics

Hate speech laws designed to help combat antisemitism following the Bondi beach terror attack will come into force after Sussan Ley agreed to a deal with Anthony Albanese.

Liberal MPs agreed to back Labour’s revised bill late on Monday following talks between the prime minister and the opposition leader, ahead of the coalition meeting in the party hall to decide on a final position.

The National Party was pressing for greater protections around proposed new powers to ban hate groups on Monday night, raising the prospect of a split in the Coalition when the bills come to a vote on the second and final day of the emergency session.

But even if the National Party takes to the floor in the Senate, Liberal sources confirmed the bill could still pass with votes from Labor and the Liberals.

A separate set of gun control laws will also come into force on Tuesday, with Greens support, in the biggest gun buyback since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre and requiring intelligence agencies, including Asio, to carry out criminal background checks when individuals apply for firearms licences.

The breakthrough follows Albanese’s decision to split the bill in the face of widespread opposition, scrapping the contentious anti-racist smear provision and codifying gun control measures in a separate bill.

The fate of wider changes to tackle antisemitism depends on the agreement between Labor and the Coalition, whose leader had previously described the legislation as “pretty unsalvageable” before Albanese agreed to split it at the weekend.

The remaining parts of the bill include new powers to ban hate groups such as neo-Nazi organizations and Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, as well as cancel or refuse visas to people with extremist views who wish to come to Australia.

The shadow cabinet met on Sunday night and decided to work with Labor to pass the bill on Tuesday, subject to amendments.

At a meeting in the party hall on Monday night, Liberal MPs agreed to back the bill if Labor agreed to further changes, including making provision to target so-called hate preachers who hunt down guest speakers.

The laws will be subject to review by parliament’s joint intelligence and security committee after two years, and the opposition will be consulted on any decision to “delist” and list a hate organisation, as part of other changes sought by the Coalition.

Speaking on the ABC’s 730 programme, Nationals leader David Littleproud confirmed the party was concerned that giving the minister the power to designate hate groups could lead to “unintended consequences”.

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Ley faced pressure to oppose or stop even the stripped-down version of the bill, including from outspoken Andrew Hastie.

A senior Liberal source familiar with the latest negotiations said Ley was “conscious of getting a good outcome” for Australian Jews, who have been begging the Coalition in recent days to reach a deal with Labor.

The source said talks between the two leaders were “constructive”; This was a description also echoed by a senior Labor Party source.

Ley and Julian Leeser, leading opposition figures, met with families of victims of the ISIS-inspired attack on Monday.

Shadow home secretary Jonno Duniam condemned the government’s “complicated” handling of the law but appeared optimistic a deal could be reached.

“What we are doing now should have happened from the beginning. This is a national response that requires unity, requires everyone to be on the same page to eliminate antisemitism and extremism in a uniform and united way,” Duniam told Sky News.

“The removal of racial libel provisions is excellent… We are working on it and the government and opposition are working together to achieve the best possible outcome.”

In an ultimatum to the opposition, Albanese signaled the laws would not be reviewed if the Coalition refused to back them on Tuesday.

“We’re not a government that keeps bringing things up over and over again just to be defeated,” he told ABC Melbourne.

In his condolence motion, the Prime Minister stated that an atrocity like Bondi beach would never happen again and declared that “responsibility begins with me.”

“While the massacre on Bondi beach was brutal and senseless, it was not accidental,” he said.

“The target was Australian Jews. As we offer our love, sympathy and solidarity to all who bear the burden of trauma and loss, we make it clear to every Australian Jew that you are not alone.”