Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Attorney-General. What is the Albanese government doing to strengthen our laws to combat antisemitism, hate and extremism after the Bondi terror attack?

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. On 14 December 2025, the deadliest terrorist attack on Australian soil occurred at Bondi Beach. The terrorists had hate in their hearts and guns in their hands. Let me be clear: antisemitic, hateful and extremist conduct is unwelcome, is unacceptable and has no place in Australia.

Just four days after this abhorrent attack, the government announced a package of legislative reforms to target those who spread hate, division and radicalisation. The government moved with urgency and care, consulting with experts and stakeholders—most importantly, the Jewish community—to prepare legislation that deals with both cracking down on hate speech and taking sensible action on firearms. I thank my parliamentary colleagues for their engagement on this legislation. I also acknowledge the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for its scrutiny of the exposure draft that led to this bill.

These new laws being debated in the parliament today specifically target those who seek to spread hatred, including those who seek to disrupt social cohesion in our community and, so critically, those who seek to radicalise our youth. As the minister said previously, it is a shocking fact that, since 2001, around 120 people have been convicted of terrorism offences and, of that cohort, 10 were children. Today, however, of the 35 people before our courts, around half are minors. This unprecedented radicalisation of our youth must stop. We will not allow extremists to groom and brainwash our children into radicalisation, hate and terrorism.

These new laws also create a regime for listing organisations whose leaders engage in hate speech or promote violence or racial hatred. The laws also amend the Migration Act to introduce new grounds, enabling the minister to refuse and cancel visas on the basis of hate motivated conduct and offences relating to the spread of hatred and extremism. Organisations that proffer these hateful ideologies must be outlawed, and their composite members must be held accountable. Indeed, some of the cowards who spread hate as part of one such group announced they would be disbanding in anticipation of the effectiveness of these laws. The events of 14 December were horrific and must never happen again, and these new laws send a clear message that this conduct will not be tolerated in Australia.