Australian parliament to meet early to pass hate speech laws after Bondi terror attack
Legislative response to Hanukkah shooting would create new offenses for ‘hate preachers,’ expand ban on prohibited symbols, and set framework for new list of banned hate groups
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SYDNEY, Australia — Australia’s parliament will reopen two weeks early to crack down on hate crimes and gun ownership following the recent terror attack targeting a Jewish event at Bondi Beach, its government said on Monday.
Australia has flagged a suite of reforms to hate crime and gun laws since the December 14 attack that killed 15 people — the country’s deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would recall both houses of parliament for a sitting from January 19-20 to pass the new legislation and offer condolences to the victims.
Members of parliament had been scheduled to return from their summer break on February 3.
“The terrorists at Bondi Beach had hatred in their minds but guns in their hands — this law will deal with both,” Albanese told a news conference.
The legislation would create new offenses for “hate preachers,” stiffen hate crime penalties, expand a ban on prohibited symbols, and set the framework for a new list of banned hate groups.
It would allow the home affairs minister to reject or cancel visas for people intending to spread hatred, the prime minister said.
The laws would enable the launch of a national guns buyback scheme, the largest since Australia last targeted firearms following a mass shooting in 1996 that killed 35 people at Port Arthur, Tasmania.
Stricter checks would also be imposed for gun licenses, the government said.
Details of the draft laws are to be released publicly on Tuesday.
Last week, the government announced a royal commission inquiry into the Bondi Beach shooting.
The federal royal commission — the highest level of government inquiry — will probe everything from intelligence failures to the prevalence of antisemitism in Australia.
Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24, carried out an ISIS-inspired terror attack targeting a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14.
It was the nation’s worst mass shooting in 30 years and the worst antisemitic attack outside Israel in decades.
The father was shot and killed by police during the assault. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His son, an Australian-born citizen who remains in prison, has been charged with terrorism and 15 murders.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.