Parliament to be recalled early as Labor seeks to crack down on ‘hate preachers’ and fund gun buybacks | Australian politics
Federal parliament will be called early as Albania’s government tries to rush through legislation to crack down on “hate preachers” and fund a national arms buyback plan following the alleged terror attack on Bondi Beach.
But the government is resisting calls for a royal commission into antisemitism, as the Coalition prepares to use the return of parliament to intensify its investigative campaign.
Parliament was not scheduled to continue until February 3, but MPs are expected to return to Canberra before Australia Day to debate Labor’s legal response to the mass shooting on December 14.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had signaled the week following the atrocity that parliament would be recalled as soon as possible to deal with two promised reforms: stronger hate speech laws targeting so-called “hate preachers” and stricter gun controls, including a firearms buyback scheme.
The new hate speech laws will include an offense for preachers and leaders who incite violence, and a new regime to list organizations whose leaders engage in hate speech that incites violence or racial hatred.
The government also plans to ban “serious libel” based on race or advocating racial supremacy and create a new aggravated offense targeting adults who try to radicalize children.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland declared last month that “the unprecedented radicalization of our young people must be stopped”, revealing that almost half of the 33 people appearing in courts on terrorism charges at the time were minors.
Government to legislate to fund largest national firearms buyback since Port Arthur massacre in 1996costs will be split 50:50 between states and territories.
The rollback is designed to work alongside new gun controls that state leaders agreed to enact in their jurisdictions in an emergency national cabinet meeting after the Bondi massacre.
New South Wales premier Chris Minns was the first to act, reminding parliament to rush through legislation before Christmas to limit individuals to four firearms and farmers and sport shooters to 10.
The federal government wants other states and territories to pass their own laws by July 1 at the latest.
A nationwide push to tighten gun laws is facing resistance from gun groups and the National Party, potentially jeopardizing the federal Coalition’s chances of backing any legislation.
The Greens support tougher gun laws, including buybacks, meaning Labor will have the numbers in the Senate.
Opposition leader Sussan Ley said she would “look at it sensibly” at the proposed legislation.
But Ley said tightening gun laws was “not the main game” and demanded that Albanians once again heed calls from Bondi victims’ families, Jewish leaders and others to establish a federal royal commission into antisemitism.
The coalition wants to use parliamentary tactics to put pressure on Albanese, inspired by the campaign that led to Malcolm Turnbull reluctantly establishing the banking royal commission in 2017.
“As a coalition we will do everything we can to deliver this Commonwealth royal commission, leaving no stone unturned,” Ley said.
“And if the prime minister has to be dragged, kicking and screaming to call this royal commission, so be it. Because Australians deserve nothing less.”
Ley said the opposition was ready to support the push for hate speech laws but had not yet been briefed on the details of the law.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jim Chalmers said calls for a royal commission were “overwhelmingly coming from a good place” but they would not change the government’s position.
Chalmers reiterated that his focus was on “immediate and urgent” steps that include new hate speech and gun laws, Dennis Richardson’s review of intelligence and security agencies, responding to Jillian Segal’s antisemitism review and assisting with the upcoming state-based royal commission in NSW.
“The government is taking a number of steps. We know the world is watching because what happened in Bondi last month was such a horrific incident and the immediate and urgent actions we take are really important to ensure we learn from and respond to this attack,” he said.
