Start afresh: Greens won’t support hate speech reform

Support for the federal government’s sweeping hate speech reforms collapsed after the Greens said they would not support the proposed changes.

Ahead of the extraordinary parliamentary session where the proposal will be debated, the Greens said they could not pass the government’s omnibus bill given the “significant amount of rework required to meet community concerns”.

But the small party says it will pass the gun law reforms put forward in the package.

“The Greens are willing to work with the government to pass gun laws next week, but the rest of the omnibus bill needs a huge amount of work,” party leader Larissa Waters said on Saturday. he said.

“With each passing hour, legal experts, faith groups and society are increasing their concerns about the Omnibus Bill.

“This is complex legislation with many major pitfalls and omissions, and the process of fixing it cannot be rushed.”

The Albanian government on Friday made its final push to secure bipartisan support for a hate speech and gun reform bill after failing to gain support from the coalition.

“The Prime Minister has made it clear: we are open to change, we want to see national unity, we want to see the coalition and the Greens acting responsibly,” Senator Wong said. he said.

Reforms proposed in the wake of the Bondi terror attack include measures such as cracking down on hate preachers, introducing hate speech and racial slur crimes, and creating a national arms buyback plan.

But legal experts, Jewish groups and influential religious leaders criticized the bill as too rushed and broad, and the coalition confirmed it would not support the law.

“We are prepared to sit down with the government to find a way forward, but it is clear that the amount of negotiation and legal analysis required to achieve a good outcome cannot be done within the extremely tight time frame that the government has created,” Senator Waters said.

“It might be easier to start over with a bill that aims to protect everyone from hatred and discrimination.”