PM announces five-point reform plan to combat hate speech, radicalisation

1 week ago 2

Creating aggravated hate speech offences for preachers and leaders who promote violence.
Increasing penalties for hate speech promoting violence.
Making hate an aggravating factor in sentencing crimes for online threats and harassment.
Developing a regime for listing organisations whose leaders engage in hate speech, promote violence or racial hatred.
Developing a narrow federal offence for serious vilification based on race and advocating racial supremacy.

The legislative reforms would “take Australia into new legal territory, creating new offences that have never before existed”, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said.

“The prime minister made references to where penalties would be increased, and aggravated offences would be involved. But for too long, there have been two sorts of occasions where people have gone right to the limits of the law but have managed to stay on the legal side of it,” Burke said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday morning.

Segal said the announcements were an important next step.

“There are a number of urgent initiatives that the prime minister has announced relating, of course, to law reform and visa in immigration work,” Segal said.

“I’m encouraged by some of the medium-term actions that will take place over this next year, relating to education. I think they are incredibly important. We have to lay foundations for the future of the nation.”

Taking questions from reporters after the announcement, Albanese said that more could have been done to combat antisemitism since October 2023, saying his government was not perfect.

“Of course, more could have always been done. Governments aren’t perfect. I’m not perfect. We have engaged in a constructive way. We’ve done including, there wasn’t a special envoy on antisemitism before this government came to office,” Albanese said.

“My heart goes out to … a community that are suffering, that have been targeted.

“More could have been done, and I accept my responsibility for the part in that as prime minister of Australia, but what I also do is accept my responsibility to lead the nation, and unite the nation.

“We are the first government to legislate on hate speech. We did that. We’ve outlawed Nazi symbols. What we know is that there’s more that we can do.”

More to come