Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On 14 December 2025 I was at home, having friends over for dinner. They were old schoolfriends. When we were around the table, we were breaking bread and talking about our families, our aspirations, our hopes and our dreams and sharing old memories. As were having that dinner, there were people in Bondi being murdered—people who will never again be able to sit around the dinner table talking about their hopes, their aspirations, their dreams and their memories. Those people are no longer with us because they were targeted as Australian Jews. This is an absolutely appalling and horrendous attack not just on the people who were involved that day but on every Australian.

In these last few days in this chamber, what we have remembered is who we are and what we stand for as Australians. Our fundamental principles and values as Australians are mateship, caring about one another and the fair go. None of these values are underpinned by the hate that led to those murders. We need to do something about that. It's our collective responsibility as a parliament to do something about that. We know that there is not one solution but there are many to tackle this and to ensure that it never happens again.

This bill, the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026, is about combating antisemitism. It's about combating hate. It's about making sure that we have legislation that backs in those Australian values that we hold so dear in this country. These reforms are about making sure that another piece of the puzzle is put in place so that this never happens again. It's a bill that will introduce new aggravated offences to ensure that very serious penalties apply to those in positions of influence and authority who commit hate crimes. It's a bill to ensure that we have increased penalties for the offences involving advocating or threatening force or violence against protected groups, members of groups, their close associates and their property.

It's a bill that will amend the Crimes Act to introduce a new general sentencing principle that will require a court, when sentencing a person, to consider an offender's hate motivation based on race or national or ethnic origin as an aggravating factor, because in this country it shouldn't matter what the colour of your skin is, what god you pray to or what your religion is; you should never be the victim of hate. We know what hate can lead to. It's about making sure that people in our community are held responsible and that hate is something that is outlawed, because we cannot afford to go down this road again. In particular, it's about making sure that our young people in this country are not infected by hate and that our most vulnerable people in this society can live and grow up free from hatred that leads to tragedy.

This bill is, at its core, about Australian values. It's about who we are as a nation. It's about who we want to continue to be as a nation. It's about taking the step to ensure that what happened in Bondi will never repeat itself there or anywhere else. For so many people's communities, children, families and loved ones, it is a tragedy that we wish will never happen again.

For me and everyone in this place, this is a serious issue. It's not one to be politicised; it's one for action and it's one for unity. This bill is about taking that step towards unity and healing after such an appalling antisemitic attack on Australian soil.

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