They claim its to protect Jews.
But it doesn’t work that way. If you protect one group, you cannot deny that protection to others. That means you can’t say what must be said about Islam, or communists, or our political derelicts who run the country into the ground with their climate madness.
Labor’s hate speech bill to outlaw vilification
New laws to be introduced into a highly charged political context will make it a criminal offence to vilify a person based on race, sexuality, gender, disability or religion. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is drafting new hate speech laws that will impose criminal penalties for serious instances of vilification based on a person’s race, sexuality, gender, disability or religion.
Labor’s hate speech bill, which is still being finalised, will enhance the federal protections that exist for minority groups in Australia and stems from the government’s view that existing laws have not been enforced and are not effective. “The Albanese government is committed to promoting and supporting respect, acceptance and understanding across the Australian community,” Dreyfus told this masthead. “We are committed to protecting the community from those who promote extremism, hatred or seek to incite violence.”
The new hate speech bill would strengthen existing laws while creating new offences carrying criminal rather than civil penalties, and is likely to cover deliberate acts that intend to incite violence or cause harm, according to government sources speaking anonymously to discuss confidential matters.
The laws will be introduced into a highly charged political context, in which the war in Gaza has escalated concerns about antisemitism and Islamophobia in Australia while student protests have spurred confusion over the legal lines between free speech and discrimination.
Exclusive polling for this masthead from the Resolve Political Monitor shows about half of Australians firmly back stronger hate speech laws to protect people of faith, compared to the quarter of voters who are against them. Labor went to the election with a pledge to protect religious groups, (code for MUSLIMS) but details reveal that the hate speech legislation will extend safeguards in federal criminal law to all protected attributes including race, gender, sexuality and disability.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese put the issue on the agenda in February when he promised to fast-track hate speech laws. He guaranteed they would be introduced to parliament when he split them from the government’s planned religious discrimination package, which could be shelved if Labor doesn’t get bipartisan support from the Coalition. Recent student protests supporting Palestine have heightened unease about the lines between free speech and discrimination in Australia, and prompted university heads to seek clarity from Dreyfus about whether certain phrases such as “intifada” and “from the river to the sea” are permissible.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has also joined the political push for stronger hate speech protections, citing rising antisemitism. The reforms will force the Coalition to clarify its position on free speech laws, given long-held opposition in its ranks to existing anti-vilification measures in racial discrimination laws. Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash has signalled concern about relying on civil discrimination law to address vilification, but said existing criminal laws should be the first recourse.
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