As it happened: Firearm and hate crime laws pass Senate as parliament recalled in response to Bondi attack

The Senate has now adjourned for the day after Labor’s hate crimes bill was passed in a late-night session.

That’s where we’ll conclude our live coverage of today’s national news. To wrap up, here’s a look back on what happened on this busy day in federal politics.

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recalled parliament two weeks early to debate new legislation in response to the Bondi terror attack.
• Labor’s hate crimes bill passed the parliament in a late-night session of the Senate. The vote saw the Coalition split, with the Liberals supporting the bill, while the Nationals voted against the legislation.
• The government’s firearm legislation passed parliament in the early evening, receiving the support of the teals in the House of Representatives and the Greens in the Senate.
• The government ditched the contentious anti-vilification provisions of the hate speech bill, which included a new offence for promoting hatred. Civil rights groups warned that the proposed laws would curtail free speech, while Labor MPs and Jewish leaders expressed worry that Islamic hate preachers would be let off the hook under the decision.
• During question time, Labor defended its response to the Bondi massacre and its legislation, while the Coalition repeatedly criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over his handling of antisemitism.
• Elsewhere in federal politics, senior politicians will be stripped of their uncapped entitlements to fly their partners and children around Australia.

The government’s hate crimes bill has passed the parliament after all but one of the present Liberal senators voted with the government to pass the legislation.

The National Party voted against it after failing to successfully move amendments, crossing the floor from their senior Coalition partner. Liberal senator Alex Antic also crossed the floor, voting against the rest of his party.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud said earlier tonight that this move did not “reflect on the relationship within the Coalition”.

The laws will create powers to designate organisations as “hate groups”, which would mean members and donors could be jailed. The government said the law was aimed at targeting neo-Nazi groups and radical Islamist groups.

They will also create more powers for a minister to cancel or refuse a visa if a person has spread hateful or extremist views, and create new aggravated offences for religious or spiritual leaders who advocate violence, and penalise religious leaders who preach hate to children.

Alongside the Nationals, who voted against the bill were the Greens, One Nation, United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet, independents David Pocock, Fatima Payman, and Tammy Tyrrell.

The government’s hate crimes bill has passed the parliament after all but one of the present Liberal senators voted with the government to pass the legislation.

The National Party voted against it after failing to successfully move amendments, crossing the floor from their senior Coalition partner. Liberal senator Alex Antic also crossed the floor, voting against the rest of his party.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud said earlier tonight that this move did not “reflect on the relationship within the Coalition”.

The laws will create powers to designate organisations as “hate groups”, which would mean members and donors could be jailed. The government said the law was aimed at targeting neo-Nazi groups and radical Islamist groups.

They will also create more powers for a minister to cancel or refuse a visa if a person has spread hateful or extremist views, and create new aggravated offences for religious or spiritual leaders who advocate violence, and penalise religious leaders who preach hate to children.

Alongside the Nationals, who voted against the bill were the Greens, One Nation, United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet, independents David Pocock, Fatima Payman, and Tammy Tyrrell.

There have been a few moments of comedy in this late-night sitting of the Senate.

As opposition home affairs spokesperson Jonno Duniam attempted to corral Liberals to vote on an amendment proposed by the National Party, he called out for “Coalition senators” to join him before correcting himself to say “Liberal senators”.

Nationals remained in their seats, as the tired cohort of Liberals moved to the other side of the chamber to vote against the junior Coalition partner.

Environment Minister Murray Watt called out to Duniam: “Not Coalition senators. Is there a Coalition?”

An amendment to criminalise the burning of the Australian flag has been moved and failed.

The Coalition, One Nation, United Australia Party and independent senator Tammy Tyrrell voted for the motion.

Labor, the Greens and independents, including David Pocock and Fatima Payman, voted against the motion.

The first amendment to the hate crimes legislation, proposed by a grouping of independent senators, has failed.

It sought to have the bill referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for an inquiry that would report by February 3.

A substantively similar amendment from the Nationals will come next, and is also expected to fail.

Voting has begun for the government’s hate crimes legislation; there are quite a few amendments to get through before the final vote.

Tired-looking senators are flooding into the chamber as the bells start ringing, shortly after 10pm. There are more than a few loose ties and abandoned blazers in the chambers.

The Nationals have said they will not vote for the bill unless they can secure support for their amendments, which is unlikely to happen.

It is expected that the Liberals will vote with Labor and pass the legislation soon.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud has entered the Senate chamber, sitting behind his party’s leader in the chamber Bridget McKenzie as she spoke on the government’s proposed hate crime laws and criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“A horrific event such as occurred on December 14, calls for a demonstration of unifying leadership from our nation’s government, and unfortunately, what is likely to be the defining movement of prime ministership under Mr. Albanese, as he has systematically failed to rise to the occasion,” McKenzie told the Senate.

“Yet again, he failed in the immediate aftermath of the attack, by refusing to call out Islamic extremism and antisemitism in our country, and instead sought to create a political diversion with this attack on 1 million law-abiding firearm owners,” the senator said.

“Australians have seen through that diversion, whether or not they are law-abiding firearm owners, and unfortunately, the Senate, with the Greens and Labor joining together, has passed that legislation.”

Midway through McKenzie’s speech, Littleproud entered the chamber and sat behind the senator as she spoke. Littleproud is a member of the House of Representatives. There is no rule barring members of the lower house from entering the Senate chamber. The Nationals in the House abstained from voting on the hate crimes legislation.

The National Party is expected to shortly vote against the government’s hate crime bill, despite expectations that the Liberal Party will support the government’s proposal.

In a statement published less than 20 minutes before the vote is set to take place, at 10pm tonight, Nationals Leader David Littleproud said that if Nationals amendments are not successful, the party will vote against the legislation.

Littleproud said this decision “does not reflect on the relationship within the Coalition”.

“The Coalition has secured significant improvements to the legislation, but The Nationals’ Party Room has concluded that more time is required to more fully examine and test the Bill before it is finalised,” he said.

If the vote goes as it is widely expected to, this would mean the Nationals will vote against the bill with both the Greens and members of the crossbench. The legislation will pass if Labor and the Liberals vote for it.