Coalition doesn’t ‘need to see’ sexuality protections in hate speech reforms, says Ley

Hate speech legislation being drafted by the federal government after the Bondi terror attack must focus solely on Islamic extremism and antisemitism, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says, despite calls for the protection of LGBTQ Australians in the reforms.

Ley spelled out her stance on the proposed legislation as she once again demanded Prime Minister Anthony Albanese establish a Commonwealth royal commission into antisemitism and recall parliament to debate hate speech legislation, both moves Labor seems prepared to announce imminently.

“I want to be very clear, tackling hate speech is not a licence to go after free speech. There are clear issues that this legislation needs to address. It needs to be targeted to the threats that we face, and those threats are radical Islamic extremism and antisemitism. That’s what we want to see in this legislation,” Ley told a press conference in Sydney.

The government is drafting updated hate speech legislation in response to the December 14 attack, and the measures are to be sent out for public consultation in the coming days. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the reforms would include two new offences: a targeted offence of “aggravated hate speech” for preachers and leaders who promote violence, and a federal offence of “serious vilification based on race”.

The opposition has offered support for tougher hate speech laws, a significant departure from previous positions in which the Coalition pushed to water down sections of the Racial Discrimination Act. However, the Coalition has historically opposed the inclusion of LGBTQ people in Australia’s hate speech laws because of freedom of speech and religious protection concerns.

Asked whether she would oppose legislation that included LGBTQ or disabled Australians, Ley said: “That’s an appropriate question for the time when we see it, but I really want to make my point very clear; that’s actually not what we would expect to see or need to see in any legislation that comes forward.”

Ley said Albanese had not confronted the core issue of the Bondi attack, which she said was “radical Islamic extremism”.

Peak bodies representing LGBTQ Australians and people living with disability have urged the government to extend the laws to cover their communities.

Independent MP Allegra Spender, whose electorate is home to the nation’s largest Jewish community and also takes in large sections of Sydney’s LGBTQ nightlife areas, has supported broad-based hate speech laws that go beyond solely a protection of race.

“Our priority must be the Jewish community because of the specific threat they face. But protecting others against hatred as well doesn’t lessen our protections of the Jewish community,” Spender told this masthead.

“Inciting hatred against any group in our country is not OK … I don’t understand why our parliament would say neo-Nazis can’t incite hatred on one group, but then let them use the same phrases to incite hatred against another group.”

Spender proposed amendments to hate speech laws in the last term of parliament that would have seen a serious vilification offence included, but the measure was blocked by Labor and the Coalition.

The most recent attempt to tackle the decades-long debate over hate speech foundered during the last term of parliament, when then attorney-general Mark Dreyfus abandoned proposed criminal penalties for serious vilification on the basis of race, sexuality, gender, disability or religion, following months of debate.

On Wednesday, Ley repeated her demand that Albanese immediately recall parliament to pass the hate speech reforms. Ley said parliament should have returned before Christmas, dismissing arguments from the prime minister on Tuesday that the legislation was complex and faced potential High Court challenges.

“This is just a series of excuses from this prime minister, and we’ve just had excuse after excuse to give real recognition and real understanding, not just to victims’ families, but to the national crisis of antisemitism that we face,” Ley said.

Sources close to the government told this masthead on Tuesday that Albanese had opened the door to calling a Commonwealth royal commission into antisemitism despite weeks of opposition from the government.

The parliament is expected to be recalled before Australia Day, ahead of schedule, to debate hate speech laws.

Two neo-Nazis have been raided by border officials and now face deportation. In late December, a 20-year-old Ukrainian national in the National Socialist Network, Australia’s biggest neo-Nazi group, was raided by Border Force and is now being held in immigration detention in Melbourne. NSN leader Thomas Sewell told followers on a video stream that the man expected to be deported soon.

Ryan Turner, a British national and NSN member who had been helping lead the group’s boxing training in Western Australia, was also detained by officials on Tuesday and taken to immigration detention, where he now awaits deportation. Turner’s visa was cancelled on character grounds. Both men will have a chance to appeal against the decision to cancel their visas.

Last November the federal government cancelled the visa of a neo-Nazi, South African national Matthew Gruter, who took part in the NSN’s antisemitic rally outside NSW Parliament.

On Tuesday, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson wrote to Albanese asking him to lift a seven-day suspension from the Senate she received in the final sitting week of last year after she wore a burqa into the chamber. Hanson said the ban would prevent her from debating the new hate speech laws once parliament is recalled.

The prime minister cannot compel the Senate, and the letter was referred to the government’s upper house leader, Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Both offices declined to comment.

Both Albanese and Ley attended the Sydney funeral of Peter “Marzo” Meagher, a former NSW police officer killed in the Bondi attack on Wednesday.

With Sherryn Groch

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