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Anthony Albanese will push the Coalition and the Greens to support urgent legislation establishing tougher hate speech laws and gun reform, bringing MPs back to Canberra next Monday to debate laws proposed in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.
Recalling parliament two weeks early, the prime minister said the new hate speech and anti-vilification laws would be considered in the same legislation as provisions to establish the biggest gun buyback program since the Port Arthur massacre.
The government promised to crack down on so-called “hate preachers”, creating a new racial vilification offence and listing groups as prohibited hate groups, a lower threshold than the terror group listing.
The legislation will also ensure offenders driven by extremism will have that motivation factored into their sentencing, strengthen existing bans on prohibited symbols, and create a new offence for inciting hatred in order to intimidate or harass. The home affairs minister will have new powers to cancel or refuse visas, and a new scheme to formally list hate groups will be created.
But Albanese denied the plan was an attempt to wedge Nationals and Liberals opposed to tougher rules on gun ownership.
“The terrorists at Bondi beach had hatred in their minds, but guns in their hands. This law will deal with both,” Albanese said.
Albanese confirmed parliament would sit for two days, on 19 and 20 January. Parliament was to return for the year on 3 February. The sitting will include condolence motions for the 15 people killed at Bondi last month.
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Jewish groups, the opposition and crossbench MPs will be briefed on the hate speech legislation from this afternoon, with the bill to be released publicly tomorrow.
The legislation will also be reviewed by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security ahead of its introduction.
The prime minister would not say whether he has support from the opposition for the plan, but said he expects the laws to pass the Senate by the evening of the 20 January.
One Nation and some Nationals MPs have expressed opposition to tougher gun laws, and states including Tasmania insist the federal government should pay the full cost for the new buyback plan.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, said the laws would be “the toughest hate laws Australia has ever seen”.
“They will specifically target those who seek to spread hatred and disrupt social cohesion in our community. And it will send a clear message that this conduct will not be tolerated,” Rowland said.
Albanese denied that the legislation was being rushed through parliament, and said all parties would have a week to consider it. Coalition MPs were briefed on Monday and Albanese had a call scheduled with the Greens leader, Larissa Waters.
“I think that there is an urgency, but [it’s] matched with getting it right,” he said.
The government has consulted with Jewish groups in the lead-up to drafting the hate speech reforms. Albanese confirmed he spoke with the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Peter Wertheim, on Monday.
Wertheim welcomed the government tightening the laws, ahead of assessing specific provisions in the legislation.
“This is a promising sign,” he said. “The country cannot risk another round of reforms that will fall short of providing the level of protection that it is claimed they provide.”
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, said she would consider the government’s legislation but warned Albanese against playing politics with the response to Bondi.
“We are deeply sceptical of the prime minister’s decision to introduce a single bill that will attempt to cover multiple complex and unrelated policy areas, for example issues of speech are clearly separate from the ownership and management of firearms,” Ley said in a statement.
“As is so often the case with this prime minister, he is squarely focused on what he perceives to be his political interests, not the national interest. This is a political decision, aimed at fostering division, not creating unity.”
One Nation MP and Nationals defector Barnaby Joyce called for the new laws to include a ban on the burning of the Australian flag.
“We’re not just going to happily go along and allow people to vitriolically spit on the nation.”
“If it’s hate speech, doesn’t that say precisely hate?”
Last week, the prime minister announced a royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion, backflipping on his previous opposition to a federal inquiry after widespread community and political pressure.
