Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I present the committee's report entitled Review of the listing of Hizb ut-Tahrir as a prohibited hate group under the Criminal Code.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—This review was conducted under section 114A.9 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 following the making of regulations in March 2026 specifying Hizb ut-Tahrir as a prohibited hate group.

This was the first use of the prohibited hate group framework established by the parliament earlier this year, and the committee approached its task conscious of both the seriousness of the listing power and the need to ensure that the statutory safeguards enacted by parliament were properly applied. The committee carefully examined the material provided by the government, including a detailed statement of reasons, and considered submissions from a range of stakeholders expressing strongly held and, at times, divergent views. The committee also held an in camera hearing to test the evidence and satisfy itself that the legislative criteria of the listing had been met and that the process followed was consistent with the requirements of the act.

Having considered the evidence before it, the committee is satisfied that Hizb ut-Tahrir meets the legislative criteria for listing as a prohibited hate group and that the listing has been properly made. In particular, the committee accepts that Hizb ut-Tahrir has advocated conduct constituting hate crimes, including through repeated praise for attacks that would amount to hate crimes if committed in Australia, and that the listing is reasonably necessary to protect the Australian community from social, economic, psychological and physical harm. Accordingly, the committee supports the listing of Hizb ut-Tahrir as a prohibited hate group under the Criminal Code and finds no reason to disallow the legislative instrument.

I want to thank, briefly, the committee, the committee chair and deputy chair, and the secretariat and all of the staff for their assistance throughout the committee's deliberations. I commend the report to the House.

See this speech in context