Albanese tells reporters to read the Old Testament in hate speech law defence

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has instructed journalists to “read the Old Testament” to better understand the reasoning behind Labor’s proposed carve outs in new hate speech legislation that would allow the quoting or referencing of religious texts.

In their current form, new offences for aggravated hate speech and serious vilification to be tabled in Parliament on Monday will not apply to religious teachings or discussions, a move that provides legal cover for the government but could allow religious leaders to highlight controversial scriptures that discriminate based on ethnicity.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

During a press conference on Tuesday morning, Albanese was asked to justify the government’s rationale for the carve out of religious texts within the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026, with his response referring journalists to read the Bible’s Old Testament.

“The laws will set a principle-based test for conduct and speech that incites racial hatred towards another person or group. The bill will be referred, has been referred to the PJCIS (Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security). We want to get the broadest possible support for this bill. I don’t know if you read the Old Testament, but I refer you to that,” Albanese said before taking another question.

When asked again about the carve out, specifically the government’s decision to allow potential hate speech as long as it quoted from a religious text, Albanese once more referred the biblical text.

“I encourage you to read the Old Testament and see what’s there, and see if you outlaw that what would occur. So we need to be careful. We consulted with faith groups, not just with the Jewish community, we want to make sure there’s the broadest possible support for this legislation,” Albanese said.

Under the proposed wording, new offences over the incitement of hatred and the dissemination of ideas of superiority or hatred of individuals or groups because of their “race, colour or national or ethnic origin” do not apply to conduct “that consists only of directly quoting from, or otherwise referencing, a religious text for the purpose of religious teaching or discussion”.

Certain translations of religious texts may otherwise have been deemed hate speech, including a controversial section of the Koran which has sometimes been translated to label Jews and Christians as “the worst of all beings”.

New anti-vilification provisions will deliberately target Islamic preachers who spread hate about Jews and other minorities.

Some interpretations of the Old Testament have been used to discriminate against people of colour through an interpretation of wording in Genesis about Canaanites, whose genetic descendants include Palestinian, Syrian and Jordanian communities.

More prominently, the book Leviticus has been used to discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community and those with disability, though neither attributes is protected under the government’s new racial vilification laws.

Muslim groups said they had not been consulted on the laws. Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Rateb Jneid said he was concerned that the new serious offence only criminalises the promotion of hatred applied to race rather than religion.