‘Unsalvageable’: Labor’s anti-Semitism bill in peril as Greens, Coalition demand major changes to hate reforms

With just days until Parliament returns, Labor’s hate speech reforms are facing an uncertain path following more explosive accusations of politicisation and factional deadlock.

The hastily drafted bill is facing growing uncertainty after the Coalition blasted the laws as “unsalvageable” and the Greens refused to accept the package in “its current form”.

It could lead to days of drawn-out negotiations ahead of an emergency reconvening of Parliament on Monday and Tuesday, with Anthony Albanese saying his government was open to amendments.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley hardened the Coalition’s position at heated Melbourne press conference on Thursday, signalling that they won’t support the “clumsy” proposed reforms which she claimed failed to mention the term “radical Islam”.

But the PM accused the Coalition of hypocrisy, saying it was “somewhat stunning” they would likely oppose a sweeping package after repeatedly demanding Parliament be recalled before Christmas.

Greens senators Mehreen Faruqi and David Shoebridge were noticeably careful with the language in contrast to Ms Ley’s defiant wording, with the minor party rejecting the “current terms” of the bill but appearing receptive to revised provisions.

“We are exploring if it is salvageable, and we are actively exploring that with stakeholders, and we will explore that with the government,” Senator Shoebridge told a Canberra press conference on Thursday.

“I cannot understand how the government thought that legislation would fly in its current terms. Those conversations will no doubt continue for some time.”

Senator Faruqi said the bill should protect against all forms of hate, listing other types of bigotry like homophobia, Islamophobia, and misogyny, as well as anti-Semitism.

She said the party wanted to make sure “that not one form of racism or hate is exceptionalised”.

“If we have to tackle hate, it has to be in all its forms, and racism also in all its forms. Otherwise, you’re not actually going towards social cohesion.”

It came as Labor’s most senior Muslim Anne Aly has signalled the government is open to cracking down on other forms of bigotry, saying “other forms of hate” could be captured once the current bill is passed.

“No one in Australia should be subjected to any type of hate,” she told The Australian on Wednesday.

“Once the combating anti-Semitism, hate and extremism bill passes through parliament, the government is open to considering extending the protections to other forms of hate.”

Australia’s peak Jewish body took the Coalition by surprise on Thursday afternoon when they issued a statement warning against a “wholesale rejection” of the proposed laws, urging Ms Ley to support them and “not to allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good”.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said while he also held concerns over “shortcomings” in the omnibus bill, it would mark a “significant further step” for better protections against anti-Semitism.

“We need legislative reform now even if it is less than ideal,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

“By all means seek to amend the Bill to remove its shortcomings, but a wholesale rejection of the Bill would not at all be warranted.”

Mr Wertheim’s statement came after he told a parliamentary inquiry into the draft laws on Wednesday that Labor should “get rid of” the carve-out in the laws for those quoting directly from religious texts during teaching or religious discussion.

Mr Wertheim had labelled it “totally misconceived and outdated” and added that religion shouldn’t be “used as a cloak” to promote hatred.

The PM used a morning radio appearance to accuse the opposition of “playing politics” and highlight the division within the Coalition over the bill.

He also called on the Coalition to “pick up the phone” and put amendments forward for the Albanese government to consider.

Mr Albanese accused the Coalition of having a fractured response, highlighting that Ms Ley had argued the laws don’t go far enough, while several Liberal colleagues claimed they go too far and unduly restrict freedom of speech.

Several Liberal backbenchers have publicly raised concerns with some of the proposed changes to hate speech laws, with WA MP Andrew Hastie already ruling out supporting the bill and claiming Parliament should wait until the royal commission reports back in December.

Speaking in Melbourne on Thursday, Ms Ley hit back at the criticisms and said the government shouldn’t expect the opposition to pass sweeping powers when their departments couldn’t explain how key provisions would operate in practice.

“What the Bill does is clumsily try to address hate speech and control firearms,” she said.

“The legislation does not address the real issues that gave rise to the Bondi attack. It doesn’t address Islamic extremism.

“There’s more than 500 pages of legislation, and the term radical Islam is not mentioned once. If the Prime Minister can’t name the problem, he can’t tackle it.

“It’s clear, the legislation protects hate preachers by making exemptions for things written in religious texts but fails to define what those religious texts may be.

“To date, the legislation has not stood the basic scrutiny as part of the parliamentary inquiry that is ongoing and has taken place over the last couple of days.”

The Greens joined in widespread concern that there could be unintended consequences from the short time frame Labor allocated stakeholders to get across the 144-page legislation, plus a more than 300-page explanatory memorandum.

The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Rateb Jnied warned a parliamentary inquiry into the draft laws on Wednesday that the “extremely limited 72-hour consultation process” was too brief for the necessary scrutiny such significant legislation required.

Former Home Affairs boss Mike Pezzullo told the snap hearing into the draft bill that it was “the most consequential change” to counterterrorism measures in Australia since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Submissions for the committee inquiry were due by Thursday afternoon, with a report due on Friday before debate begins on Monday when parliament returns.

Labor’s omnibus bill and snap recalling of Parliament came after Ms Ley had suggested in several media interviews in the wake of the terror attack that politicians should urgently get back to Canberra.

Mr Albanese — who at the time had faced mounting criticism for acting too slowly and being reluctant to call a Royal Commission — dug up and referenced his rival’s previous commentary during a fiery attack on ABC Sydney on Thursday.

Mr Albanese went on to quote from a media release from Ms Ley on December 18 and Nationals MP interviews on ABC Radio on December 17 which called for parliament to be convened immediately.

“You can’t have it both ways. People who were watching the events since December 14 would have seen politics being played by the Coalition. They’re still playing politics,” the PM said.

“I just find it astonishing that people who were arguing this was ‘absolutely urgent’ on the front page of papers day after day after day, and now they’re saying, oh no, well, actually, it’s not that urgent.

“To use their words, now they’re saying that this is somehow ‘rushed’, even though my government has moved in a considered orderly way.

“Yes, I’ve made it very clear this is a complex area of law. That’s why we didn’t bring Parliament back on Christmas Eve and pass the laws without going through detailed work by the Attorney-General’s department and by the Department of Home Affairs and consulting community groups.

“I’m just stunned that they are saying they will vote against legislation — a number of their members — without even looking at it.”

Ms Ley also accused the PM of a lack of leadership in the days after the attack and scrambling for a “political fix” when he should have shown “courage”.

“We have had a Prime Minister who froze for 25 days unable to find a political fix for what he saw as a political problem,” Ms Ley said.

“When the nation demanded leadership and moral courage and moral clarity, we had 25 days of confusion.”

She also highlighted that the State Labor leader Chris Minns had acted to recall State parliament before Christmas.

The PM claimed that in the wake of the attack while the Coalition were “day-after-day” making headlines, he was taking an “orderly approach” away from the cameras and “prioritising, of course, was the security issues”.