Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026. I do so not just as a member of this government but as a local MP who has seen at close range what hate is and what hate does to members of my community.

Bennelong is one of the most multicultural electorates in the country. It's a community where people of different faiths, cultures and backgrounds live side by side and contribute to our shared Australian story. But, despite our diversity and despite our prosperity, hate emerges from time to time. These laws today are designed to target that hate, because when hate and extremism emerge in a community like mine, they are felt immediately. They divide my community, and they make communities feel unsafe.

Over recent years, I've spoken directly with Jewish Australians in Bennelong who are feeling increasingly unsafe in ways they never expected to feel in this country. Parents have spoken about their children being targeted. Young people have spoken about hiding their identity, and students have spoken about feeling isolated and unsupported. This reality must be named clearly. Antisemitism is not vague. It is specific, it is persistent and it causes real harm.

Yesterday, members of parliament from all sides named that hate clearly in this House. I'll single out a contribution from my friend and neighbour the member for Berowra, who spoke very powerfully about the need to confront these threats head-on. On many elements of his speech, I agree with him. Taking on Nazis and Islamic fundamentalists is something this parliament must do with conviction and with haste, and that is what this law intends to do.

Even in Bennelong—beautiful, diverse and safe Bennelong—we have seen the real-world impact of hateful activities. Too regularly, white supremacist material finds its way into local letterboxes. Too often people in my community, where I live and raise my family, are targeted not because of chance but because of what they look like and what they believe in. In Marsfield more than half of the residents speak a language other than English at home. In Eastwood nearly half of the community identifies as having Chinese heritage. The vile material they receive is not distributed to persuade or debate; it is distributed to threaten, to signal that they are not welcome in their own home. That is how organised hate operates. It seeks to fracture social cohesion by creating fear across communities, normalising division and emboldening those who thrive on hate. This is where the real risk lies. Hate cannot be allowed to organise, because it will be normalised. The more it becomes organised the more it becomes visible, and when that happens it's not institutions that absorb the damage; it is people. Hate does not begin with violence, but all violence begins with hate.

On 14 December last year, Australia was forced to confront the reality of hate-inspired Islamic extremist violence, when the deadliest terrorist attack on our soil occurred at Bondi Beach. It's a place associated with everyday life, community and joy, and it became the site of a devastating loss. That moment shattered any lingering belief that this kind of violence and hate could not happen here. Disgustingly, in the days and weeks following Bondi, more hate was distributed in my community of Bennelong—again, material designed to threaten and divide. It was redacted and shared on our local Love Gladesville group, and I'm so proud that my local community called it out. Sara said, 'These views are not welcome in my home or my country.' Aiden said that these groups are 'an enemy of peace'. Martin hit the nail on the head when he said, 'We need to send a very strong message that their BS and lies are not tolerated and these dropkicks are not welcome in our community.' To Martin, Sara and Aiden: this bill is that strong message.

This legislation strengthens penalties for those who incite hatred and violence. It provides law enforcement with clearer tools to intervene earlier. It criminalises organised hate groups that exist to radicalise, recruit and intimidate. It holds leaders and authority figures to account when they abuse positions of trust to spread hate, and it recognises and criminalises the serious harm caused when adults deliberately radicalise children. I support this legislation, as should everyone in this place.

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