Albanese’s capitulation is embarrassing, but at least it avoids moment of national shame

In a new, separate bill on gun restrictions, non-citizens would be banned from owning guns, ASIO background checks would inform background checks and states would buy back the guns that have proliferated since John Howard banned guns after the Port Arthur massacre. This tranche of legislation will pass with the support of the Greens.

The second bill on hate crimes would give the government extraordinary new powers to jail people linked to organizations deemed “hate groups”. The National Socialists Network, which already hated Jews, disbanded under the threat of new laws. Radical Islamists Hizb ut Tahrir are likely to be targeted. The government will also more easily deny visas to hate-filled activists, and Islamic hate preachers closely linked to the Bondi attack will face tougher penalties.

A proposal to ban the promotion of hatred, which sparked opposition from right-wing and left-wing freedom of expression advocates and religious leaders, has been defeated. Decades of attempts to enact such laws have met a similar fate due to diabolical compromises about what kinds of speech would fall foul of the law.

The attempt to incorporate such a large and complex proposal on hate speech into the rapid process required by the Bondi attack was always ambitious for Labor. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley appeared hypocritical in opposing the legislation this week after previously calling for the process to be speeded up further. But the truth is that the Coalition’s conviction about freedom of expression meant that it would never support restricting speech when it read the bills in broad daylight.

The Prime Minister was injured when he was forced to call the royal commission. But as last week showed, Albanese’s backflip allowed him to quickly put pressure on his opponents.

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His retreat on Saturday will revive concerns from the National Party and some regional Liberals about gun restrictions. Coalition sources said on Saturday they would likely oppose the gun bill package. The hate crimes bill is more palatable to the opposition, but some MPs dislike the new powers to ban hate groups and would prefer radical Islamists to be punished under existing terrorism laws.

Parliament needs to project a sense of cohesion when it meets for the first time after Bondi. But the relationship between our major party leaders and the incentives underlying their behavior are failing the nation.

Has the well of goodwill been so poisoned that no consensus can be reached even after Australia’s worst terror attack?

Albanese, addicted to winning after last May’s election, is loathe to legitimize Ley because he believes Ley cannot stay in the job for long. So Labor can consult him on the hate speech bill, as it did last Monday, but the Coalition doesn’t believe Albanese when he reaches across the aisle.

As for Ley, he is so lacking in control of the party room that he is often unable to present a coherent position to the government. The Bondi incident does little to bolster Ley’s leadership chances. Now, in a series of crises, Ley has been dragged into his position by his stubborn right wing, which is more focused on bringing down Labor than finding common ground with it.

Asked if his opponents would support weakened laws, Albanese said: “They will have no excuse”; It’s a sign of the criticism the Coalition will face next week if it doesn’t meet Labor halfway.

“We know there are people in the National Party who say they oppose the gun bill provisions. We’re separating the bills. That’s something they want.”

“It is time for politics to stop and to stand up for the national interest.”