By Grace Crivellaro and Tess Ikonomou
Reforms to the nation’s hate speech laws are unlikely to pass parliament with both the coalition and the Greens rejecting the government’s draft proposal.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said her party would not support the bill in its current form, because it could have unintended consequences.
“The legacy of the horrific and appalling violence in Bondi cannot be the undermining of political, civil and human rights,” she told reporters in Canberra on Thursday afternoon.
“This bill is broad, it is vast and it is really complex, and we need to make sure that it is scrutinised and that we do our due diligence on this bill”
Senator Faruqi said any changes to hate speech protections needed to tackle all forms of discrimination, not just anti-Semitism as intended by the federal government in the wake of December’s Bondi Beach massacre.
Labor hopes to introduce and pass the laws next week but with the opposition also skeptical of the changes, that appears unlikely without a major rewrite.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley signalled the coalition will oppose the bill when parliament resumes on Monday, describing the legislation as “pretty unsalvageable” and a clumsy attempt to combat anti-Semitism.
The draft laws seek to crack down on hate preachers, increase penalties for hate speech and create a national gun buy-back scheme after two Islamic-inspired shooters killed 15 people at a Hanukkah event.
Ms Ley told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday her party would continue to scrutinise the legislation.
“Our job is to pass laws that contain clear offences for courts and police to use. Instead, the flaws in this bill will add confusion and delay in the charging and sentencing of terrorist offenders,” she said.
But Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim urged the opposition to vote for the legislation, and “not allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good”.
“By all means seek to amend the bill to remove its shortcomings but a wholesale rejection of the bill would not at all be warranted,” he said.
“The defeat of the bill would be a retrograde step.”
The prime minister earlier said he was stunned by the coalition’s complaints about the bill being rushed after it repeatedly demanded parliament return before Christmas to pass laws.
“The coalition, day after day, very clearly called for parliament to be recalled not on Monday, January 19, but during Christmas week,” he told ABC Radio.
“Now they’re saying that this is somehow rushed.”
The opposition leader denied she was being hypocritical and maintained parliament should have been recalled before Christmas.
“We wanted immediate action … they’ve taken a month to deliver this bad bill,” Ms Ley said.
Coalition senator Jonathon Duniam said the government had done well in bringing the laws urgently but they failed to address anti-Semitism.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke labelled the coalition’s criticisms as ridiculous and there could not be a more “serious impetus for urgent action”.
The coalition has not yet officially decided on its support for the legislation, with Nationals senator Susan McDonald saying the bill “has very few friends” and sought to do too much.
Barnaby Joyce, who has recently joined One Nation, said the party would not back the legislation because it would punish “recreational pig shooters in country areas” who should not be lumped in with terrorists.
He told ABC Radio Sydney residents could be easily cajoled into believing the gun reforms were a solution post-terror attack because they generally don’t own firearms.
A report on the hate speech reforms is due on Friday before debate begins on Monday when parliament returns.
Proudly Australian owned and operated
