Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

The parliament is sitting tonight because Australia experienced an act of domestic terrorism on our shores just one month ago. This was the worst terrorism event in Australia in our nation's history. This is an event that will forever change our nation. Australians will never feel safe again after two hate filled Islamist extremists perpetrated a callous attack on Australian Jewish families at Bondi Beach on 14 December last year. This attack on Jewish families on our soil is an attack on all Australian families. An horrific event such as what occurred on 14 December calls for a demonstration of unifying leadership from our nation's government. And, unfortunately, it is what is likely to be the defining moment of the prime ministership of Mr Albanese, as he has systematically failed to rise to the occasion yet again.

He failed in the immediate aftermath of the attack by refusing to call out Islamic extremism and antisemitism in our country and, instead, sought to create a political diversion with this attack on one million law-abiding firearm owners. Australians have seen through that diversion, whether or not they are law-abiding firearm owners, and unfortunately the Senate, with the Greens and Labor joining together, has passed that legislation.

The Prime Minister initially refused to call a royal commission. He needed Jewish families to be publicly crying and begging him before he could bring himself to. The Australian legal fraternity, sports stars, community members, the opposition and crossbenchers were all calling for a royal commission so that our country could understand how such an abhorrent thing could happen in our corner of the Earth, which has been such a place of solace for the Jewish community.

He refused to call a royal commission in the same way that he refused to act on the growing antisemitism post the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas. The slaughter of Israelis and the spike in antisemitism are unparalleled. He instigated, under pressure, an antisemitism envoy who handed him recommendations for action six months ago. They are not in place. We've debated in this chamber his inaction ad nauseam for 2½ years. We've borne witness to the antisemitism in our own communities—whether it be Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne or beyond—and it has fallen on deaf ears with the Greens, it has fallen on deaf ears with the Labor Party, and it has fallen on the deaf ears of this Prime Minister.

The real tragedy of the Bondi attack is that the government has had more than two years to respond and take action, and it has failed to do so. There are many things the government could have done to protect our Jewish community which don't even require legislation in this place. I've sat around a cabinet table, a national security committee and an expenditure review committee. You can make decisions in government. You can actually make things happen. This government could have assisted Jewish families in the aftermath of that and assisted them in paying for the armed guards that Australian Jewish children have to attend school with. That didn't require the Senate to come back. Hate legislation is not required to take practical action and to protect Australian children going to school—because, right now, the Jewish community is paying for armed guards at kindergartens and schools right across this country. That is unacceptable.

The government could have called out antisemitism and Islamic extremism without, on every single occasion, drawing this false equivalence with Islamophobia as if it is somehow equivalent. The data says no. Mosques are not being bombed, children attending Islamic schools are not being spat on, and our wonderful Muslim community in this country is not being shot as they celebrate Eid.

Instead of taking the invitation of bipartisanship from the coalition to come together in the face of this tragedy on the very next day and sit down as the parties of government, saying, 'Despite our philosophical and political differences, how do we address this scourge, and how do we address it in a way that meets community expectations?' this prime minister chose to play politics. He could've brought the opposition into his confidence to develop and agree on legislative changes to protect our Jewish community and the wider community.

The evidence of this failure has been writ large over the last five days. Poorly drafted legislation has been rushed through this parliament, and parliamentarians, in both houses and of all creeds and colours, have made the point that this is a bad way to legislate and it is a shame for our parliament to behave this way. We don't always agree, but we're in this place because we think parliament matters and the Australian people's views should matter. It's our responsibility and job to bring the diversity of views to the table in order to find solutions. We've had poorly drafted legislation rushed through the parliament that was guillotined in the House and guillotined in the Senate. There's been no normal scrutiny and no public advice from impacted stakeholders, community groups, agencies, experts, academics or the legal fraternity. There's been none of that.

Last week, the government's legislation was effectively friendless in the community. That forced the Prime Minister to split the bill. He said previously that it couldn't be separated. When the parliament rises tomorrow ahead of Thursday's day of mourning, the sad reality is neither of the bills set to pass the parliament enjoy bipartisan support. As an Australian who has strongly supported and been a close friend of our Jewish community for many years—I am a proud Zionist and I'm sure the haters will hate on me online as they do every time I say that—it pains me to witness the way this government is trashing the normal process of parliamentary scrutiny in a vain attempt to secure a fleeting political win off the grief of our Jewish community.

I want to commend the Leader of the Opposition, Sussan Ley, the shadow minister for home affairs, Senator Duniam, and the shadow minister for foreign affairs, Senator Cash, for the good-faith way they have conducted negotiations with the government on this bill. It's been a terrible example of legislative process, with over 500 pages of documents to do with the legislation subjected to committee investigation with almost no notice and critically important stakeholders provided with no genuine opportunity to scrutinise the proposed laws.

The report of PJCIS, our intelligence and security committee—which I've had the great honour to sit on in the past—had a dissenting report. The report was tabled far too late to contribute meaningful amendments. This is not the way it's supposed to work. That is why tonight, instead of sitting till tomorrow so all senators could have their say on this legislation and the bits they agree with, could outline the pieces that they don't agree with and could ask questions of ministers—which communities expect this chamber to be able to provide—all of that's being guillotined in a guillotined debate. Given the potential serious implications for the freedoms of Australian citizens, national security legislation deserves to pass a very high bar of scrutiny and expert development.

Unfortunately, despite the many positive elements of this legislation, the government has not been able to convince my party room, the National Party, that adequate safeguards are in place for the proposed hate crimes. We do want to ban extreme organisations that would seek to do our community harm. We would have liked to have been able to have the opportunity to participate robustly in a timely way with expert advice to get to that place. It is for this reason that I will foreshadow an amendment to the second reading debate on this bill to refer this legislation to the scrutiny of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee of the Senate for inquiry and to report swiftly by 2 March 2026.

This public process, unlike the sham PJCIS inquiry that was run, where submissions have not even all been uploaded. As the bill is passing the House of Representatives, stakeholders across this country took the time in the limited time they had to put in their views, and the public and senators, the House of Representatives, haven't been even able to avail themselves of that wisdom being made public in time for votes to be cast. This government makes a mockery of their Bondi response in how they treat this parliament and in how they treat the parliamentarians that Australians have sent here to work hard on their behalf.

Everything you need to know about this Prime Minister is writ large in the last month. It's all about the politics. It is still Sydney University student politics and it is an affront to those killed. The Bondi Islamic terrorist attack is an affront and an abuse of power against the million law-abiding firearm owners who have taken a hit because it sounds tough to get tough on gun laws when they're not the issue, because you are too gutless to even put the words 'Islamic extremism' in the bill that's supposed to deal with it. Of course the National Party supports tougher migration laws to get hate preachers off our streets, on a plane and out of our country to stop the harm of radicalisation. But this Prime Minister has used this opportunity to divide our country, to divide this parliament, for his own political advantage and that says everything about this man who we call Prime Minister.

Our Senate inquiry will give the parliament adequate time to properly scrutinise the bill, to call the expert witnesses, to have the debate in public and it will allow us to pass this very, very quickly. I urge senators to do the right thing, to support our push for a Senate inquiry and more time to get this right, because, as you have heard tonight, it's not right. The inquiry could allow community organisations to put forward their views and ultimately recommend any amendments that might be necessary to protect Australia's Jewish community. I will also be moving amendments circulated in my name to the bill, and Senator Canavan will also be moving amendments that have the support of the National Party. These amendments in their totality provide National Party MPs and senators with further confidence that adequate safeguards are in place.

In closing my contribution so other members can participate, I reflect the deep disappointment in a Labor Party government that is not able to bring the parliament a genuinely bipartisan set of legislative proposals that would have done justice to our parliament, our people and the slain from the Bondi Islamic terrorist attack.