The Greens will not support Labor’s new hate laws without changes to ensure all minorities are protected, as the party demands a slew of amendments to the government’s sweeping legislative response to the Bondi terror attack.
The Coalition has backed away from the reforms to hate and gun control laws, but negotiating a deal with the Greens remains a live option for the government.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley labelled the government’s laws “unsalvageable” on Thursday, three days after receiving the draft bill, a signal the Liberal Party is preparing to vote against the bill next week.
One of the most contentious elements of the reform is a new offence that would make it illegal to incite or promote hatred on the grounds of race, colour, or national or ethnic origin unless the speech or writings are direct quotes from texts central to religions.
The omnibus bill also includes measures to introduce a gun buyback scheme, strengthen background checks for firearm owners, grant greater powers to cancel or reject visas, and create a regime to ban designated hate groups.
Without the support of the Coalition, Labor needs the Greens to achieve its aim of getting the laws through parliament when it resumes early next week, a fortnight before originally scheduled.
Greens senator David Shoebridge said the party took issue with multiple elements of Labor’s bill. (ABC News: Luke Stephenson)
Greens senator David Shoebridge on Thursday said the minor party would not support the bill in its current form but were in talks with the government and were “genuinely exploring if it can be amended”.
It is unclear if the sticking points can be resolved by next week, with Senator Shoebridge stating: “We did not create the timetable and we will not be trapped by it.”
The party took issue with a number of elements of the proposed laws, including greater powers for the home affairs minister to cancel visas on the basis of hate and a new regime for listing “hate” groups.
Ley signals Liberals won’t back ‘unsalvageable’ hate and gun reforms
In particular, Senator Shoebridge said it was unacceptable that the new inciting racial hatred offence did not cover other forms of hate, including on the basis of gender or sexuality.
“The same hateful ideology that was directed against the Jewish community at Bondi could have as easily been directed against women in positions of power, or the LGBTIQ+ community,” he said on Thursday.
“Those vulnerable parts of our community, they absolutely deserve equal protections from this parliament.
“We are continuing to talk with the government. Those conversations will no doubt continue for some time.”
Labor has flagged it is open to extending the protections in the new inciting or promoting hatred offence to other minority groups in the future, as called for by Muslim leaders, some Jewish groups and human rights advocates.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday said the government had engaged constructively with the Greens and independent Allegra Spender, whose electorate covers Bondi Beach, and that he was prepared to do so with the opposition.
“What we have done is worked through these issues in an orderly way, in a consultative way. We have released draft legislation in good faith, asking for comments to come forward,” he said.
“I said, in doing that, we were open to amendments from across the parliament, or suggestions that were made as part of that process.”
Jewish leader urges parties to ‘give a little ground’
Australian Jewish groups have largely backed the government’s proposed racial hatred laws, though some have expressed reservations about the rushed nature of the reforms and an exemption for people quoting directly from religious texts for teaching or discussion.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim on Thursday acknowledged some of the opposition’s criticisms were valid but said failing to pass the bill would be a “retrograde step”.
He also called on both Labor and the Coalition “to give a little ground”, declaring they “owe it to the country” to reach an optimum outcome.
The Coalition has spent the month since the Bondi attack, in which 15 people were killed at a Hanukkah celebration on the beach, demanding Labor recall parliament to deal with antisemitism.
But at the media conference on Thursday morning Ms Ley said the draft laws failed to address the issues that gave rise to the massacre, risked criminalising speech unrelated to antisemitsm or extremism, and lacked clarity.
Ms Ley also took issue with the fact “radical Islam” was not specifically cited in the legislation.
“If the prime minister can’t name the problem he can’t tackle it,” she said.
“The opposition will continue to scrutinise this legislation carefully, but from what we have seen so far it looks pretty unsalvageable as it stands.”
Anne Twomey, one of Australia’s leading constitutional law experts, told the ABC that laws around hate speech should apply to all people equally, rather than targeting any one group.
“If they’re going to restrict people’s rights of freedom of speech they need do so across the board in relation to everybody. And trying to get the balance right is very, very difficult,” she said.
“Just naming things doesn’t actually cause results in terms of laws, you need to know what are the laws that have an effect in relation to those names.”
Professor Twomey added that elements of the bill were “concerning” and could have freedom of speech impacts, specifically the new offence of inciting or promoting racial hatred and the regime to prohibit so-called hate groups.
“Both of them have issues in terms of woolliness in the drafting that means that they may end up being used in ways that are not anticipated at the moment,” she said.
“They need to be thought through a little bit more carefully.”