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

2 months ago 18

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 imminently announce.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley speaking at a press conference in Sydney on Wednesday.

“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,” Ley told a press conference in Sydney.

“That’s what we want to see in this legislation. That’s what our urgent court action, not just ours, but the nation’s urgent court action following the Bondi terrorist attack, should be addressing.”

The government is currently drafting updated hate speech legislation in response to the December 14 attack, with the measures 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.”

“That is not what this is about, and that would be a prime minister who was not confronting fairly and squarely the issue that so far he has failed to confront, which is radical Islamic extremism and the consequences of letting that go unchecked, and what that has meant for Australians, and particularly Jewish Australians since October the 7th, 2023,” Ley said.

Peak bodies representing LGBTQ Australians and people living with disability – including Equality Australia and People with Disability Australia – 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.

Allegra Spender at Bondi following the December 14 shooting.

“What is the promise of Australia? It is the promise that you will be kept safe, and you will not be targeted on the basis of your culture, your religion, your sexuality,” Spender told this masthead.

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 inclusion of certain minority groups in Australia’s hate speech laws has been debated for decades. During the last term of parliament, then attorney-general Mark Dreyfus proposed criminal penalties for serious vilification on the basis of race, sexuality, gender, disability or religion. The proposal was later dropped.

Speaking to journalists in Sydney, Ley repeated her demands that Albanese immediately recall parliament to pass the hate speech reforms. Ley said the call for parliament to return before Christmas was “fair”, despite arguments from the prime minister on Tuesday that the government needed to take its time to produce the legislation because of its complexity and 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.

“We should have come back as a parliament. Before Christmas, the New South Wales parliament came back. We should have been talking about these issues. We should be talking about them now in the national parliament.”