TRANSCRIPT
Five weeks after Australia's deadliest terror attack, federal parliament is poised for legislative change.
Two separate bills - covering gun controls and hate laws - have passed the House of Representatives ... with a warning from the Prime Minister he will walk away from the bills if they are not passed today.
Introducing the wide-ranging gun reforms, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the laws would have prevented the Bondi massacre, which killed 15 Australians at a Jewish Chanukah festival last month.
“How many firearms would the Bondi gunmen have held? Would it be six? Would it be five? Would it be four? The answer is zero. The father would have been ineligible because he was not a citizen. The guns would not have been available to them.”
The laws were opposed by a string of MPs from the National Party and Queensland L-N-P, keen to focus on the fact that Bondi gunmen were allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group.
National Party leader David Littleproud led the charge.
“This is nothing more than a cheap political diversion, a cheap political diversion that is not facing up to the real problem in this country, which is radical Islamists that are taking hold and are causing the harm on the streets that we saw in Bondi.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected any accusation that tightening gun laws would deflect from other issues.
“Gun reform alone will not solve hatred or extremism, but an anti Semite without a gun is just a hate filled person. An anti-Semite with a gun is a killer.”
The laws are expected to pass the Senate with the support of the Greens.
They will establish the biggest gun buyback in nearly 30 years, restrict gun imports and require intelligence agencies to carry out background checks when people apply for a firearms licence.
Minister Burke says they will improve information sharing between security agencies and a new National Firearms Register.
“This means our intelligence agencies will get the best information they need, and the states and territories, when deciding if someone is a fit and proper person to hold a license, will have the license, will have the best possible process before a license is issued. “
Several amendments proposed by the Coalition were rejected, including increased compensation for farmers and small businesses affected by the buyback.
Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester argued the laws will unfairly penalise farmers who rely on them for pest control and protection.
“ Very easily, Mr Speaker, a law abiding, legal Australian pursuing their sport as a hunter or a sporting shooter or just a farmer, doing their job, would rapidly have half a dozen guns with no problem whatsoever, and they are no threat to the Australian public. “
Also rejected were proposed amendments from far north Queensland MP Bob Katter and independent Zali Stegall.
“This is not the USA, this is Australia. We want genuinely strong gun controls. So whilst I will support this legislation, I urge the government to go further and ensure that background checks properly assess the risk and safety of all Australians. “
Controversial proposed hate laws also passed lower house, this time with support from the Liberal Party after the government agreed to last minute changes.
That deal drew anger from the Greens Leader Larissa Waters, whose party had already decided to oppose the bill.
“This bill that looks set to pass the parliament today, with the support of the two big parties, is a big threat to free speech and to the right to associate peacefully and to share your views on human rights abuses, and a genocide.”
The last minute changes also caused frustration for MPs not part of negotiations between the major parties.
Independent Monique Ryan:
“The legislation now before the house was given to us five minutes ago. We have been given less than five minutes to speak to it. This is unacceptable.”
The laws allow the government to effectively outlaw groups that promote hatred: those identified by ASIO as problematic, including neo-Nazi organisation the National Socialist Network, and radical Islamist collective Hizb ut-Tahrir, are likely targets.
They also permit the government to refuse or revoke the visas of people who hold extremist views.
Attorney General Michelle Rowland says the laws will be a powerful tool.
“These groups which seek to spread hate, fuel division and stoke violence, have avoided criminality for too long. They have no place in our society, and this bill will provide the government with a mechanism to outlaw them and to criminalize their activities.”
She rejected claims of a crackdown on free speech, saying the laws will NOT capture genuine political advocacy or artistic expression.
“The director general of ASIO must be satisfied, the conduct would or is likely to increase the risk of politically motivated violence or promote communal violence. That threshold is deliberately high. It ensures the definition is tied to security risk and public safety, not near country and not near offence.”
The majority of Nationals MPs abstained from the vote , with Leader David Littleproud saying there was not enough time to consider unintended consequences of the reforms.
Meanwhile, the Jewish community has expressed dismay that the government dropped a provision that would have created an offence of racial vilification in order to gain Liberal support.
Independent MP Allegra Spender says the law should do more to protect Jewish Australians.
“How can people hatefully target the Jewish community in their words, when we know words lead to action, and this not to be an offence in our country?”
Jewish Liberal MP Julian Leesor maintains the laws agreed to by the major parties strike the right balance.
But he says it is now up to the government to use the laws effectively to stamp out anti-Semitism and implement even further measures.
“It's a choice that doesn't end with these laws. The government must root out anti-Semitism from our schools, from academia and the universities, from the arts, from the trade union movement, and from its own political base. Because unless we do that, Bondi will not be the end of the story, it will be the midpoint of a story that gets so much worse. “
