Premier denies ‘overreach’ as states mull Bondi changes
A state premier is not apologizing for restricting freedoms in response to the Bondi terror attack, and other states are considering doing the same.
The NSW parliament will be recalled on Monday and Tuesday to pass hate speech legislation after Jews opened fire on Jews celebrating Hanukkah at Sydney’s Bondi Beach last Sunday, killing 15 people and injuring dozens more.
The law would ban slogans such as “globalize the intifada” and flags of Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab, Boko Haram, Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic State.
The proposed changes were criticized by the Federation of Islamic Councils of Australia as “another step in a deeply disturbing pattern of using moments of grief to justify authoritarian overreach”.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said massive mass protests would break down and tear apart the scar tissue that had built up in society over the past week.
“This (attack) could be a demonic washing machine of hate with different things coming to the top,” he told ABC TV on Sunday. he said.
“I believe that in many cases when you see violent images, hateful slogans and chants, it unleashes forces that the organizers of the protests cannot control.”
Chief Superintendent Mike Bush said the globalization of intifada, an Arabic word meaning uprising or shake-up, did not currently meet Victoria’s threshold for criminal prosecution by police.
The Victorian government has committed to examining proposals from NSW, the federal government and community groups and has backed Mr Minns’s push for a state-based royal commission into the attack.
“We stand ready to continue to implement any changes that may be necessary to ensure that the Jewish community in Victoria, indeed our entire community, feels safe and is safe,” Victorian minister Mary-Anne Thomas said.
He and Mr Minns condemned planned anti-immigration rallies in Sydney and Melbourne that coincided with Sunday’s national day of reflection.
Mr Minns said an attack on immigrants was “the last thing” the country needed right now.
NSW Police declared the rally at Prince Alfred Park unauthorized and urged people to reconsider attending as it could “escalate tensions or create additional risks to community safety”.
Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas rejected the organizers’ suggestion that they were marching in solidarity with Australian Jews.
“I was shocked and appalled that people thought this was OK,” he said.
The Queensland Liberal National government has tasked the state attorney general and police minister with delivering a package of reforms to combat antisemitism.
Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has hit out at Premier Anthony Albanese, who said gun laws are only as strong as the weakest state.
Echoing former prime minister John Howard, Mr Bleijie accused Mr Albanese and others of trying to distract from the “fundamental issue” of anti-Semitism.
“I can tell the national government that our laws against antisemitism are only as strong as our weakest prime minister, and that would be Anthony Albanese,” he said.
