Executive Council of Australian Jewry welcomes Bondi reforms, warns of ‘significant shortcomings’

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has welcomed the Albanese government’s hate reform package, but warned it has “significant shortcomings”, including an exemption for religious texts.

Anthony Albanese announced his government’s long-awaited reforms on Monday, which included new offences for “hate preachers” seeking to radicalise children and for inciting hatred in order to harass, as well as criminalising membership to proscribed “hate groups”.

The government will also seek to expand the powers of Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to cancel visas and enable firearm reforms, including the national buyback and to allow states to restrict gun licenses to only Australian citizens.

ECAJ co-chief executive Peter Wertheim welcomed – “with qualifications” – the Bill, aimed at creating a “more unified Australia through more robust anti-hate legislation”.

“The need for such legislation has been highlighted not only by the dreadful anti-Semitic terrorist attack that occurred last month, but also the climate of hatred that preceded it,” Mr Wertheim said.

“For more than 15 years, spurious civil liberties arguments have been used to justify burdening hate speech laws with unnecessary additional elements that for all practical purposes have been impossible to prove.

“The result has been that people engaged in notorious examples of hate speech have not been held to account.”

The current hate speech laws were no longer “fit for purpose”, Mr Wertheim said.

However, the proposed reforms were found to be lacking.

“Overall, the draft legislation is a significant step in the right direction, but it still suffers some significant shortcomings which will limit its effectiveness,” he said.

The ECAJ noted four shortcomings in the new serious vilification offence, specifically that it did not capture other types of hatred, including towards people based on their gender identity and sexual orientation, and that it did not cover instances where someone recklessly promotes hatred.

The Council also took issue with the exemption for quoting or referencing religious texts for the purpose of religious teaching and that the offence would only be established if a prosecutor can prove that the conduct would cause a “reasonable member of the targeted group in fear for their safety”.

“None of the world’s recognised religions promotes racial hatred knowingly and deliberately, and to the extent that any religion were to do so, it would be thoroughly shameful,” Mr Wertheim said.

“Invoking religion as an excuse to dehumanise and mistreat others simply on the basis of who they are, must surely be a thing of the past.”

It comes as officials from the Department of Home Affairs and Attorney-General front a snap parliamentary inquiry into the Bill.

Lawmakers will return next week to discuss the measures after Mr Albanese recalled parliament early.

ASIO ‘expects scrutiny and embraces accountability’

Australian spy chief Mike Burgess says ASIO “expects scrutiny and embraces accountability” in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.

The ASIO Director-General also welcomed Anthony Albanese’s decision to convene a royal commission and said ASIO was already responding to inquiries from Dennis Richardson AC in his review of the security environment before the December 14 attack.

Addressing a parliamentary hearing into Labor’s proposed reforms, Mr Burgess acknowledged the nearly 30 days “since the heartbreaking and senseless act of violence”.

“I welcome the opportunity to do more to protect Australia and Australians from threats to their security,” Mr Burgess said.

“However, the proposed legislative response is not the only response required.

“Every one of us has a role to play combating anti-Semitism and protecting social cohesion. Our words matter, our decisions matter, our actions matter.”

Mr Burgess reiterated concerns from AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett who stressed groups like the Nationalist Socialist Network and Hizb Ut Tahrir “know how to say on the right side of the law”.

“The problem with that is that is part of their insidious strategy to, in our view, obviously have the potential to rise and increase tension in society,” he said.

Mr Burgess noted a letter from Hizb Ut Tahrir to Mr Albanese.

“It’s just an example of a group that will claim that they’re talking about the Middle East and only Israel, but when they’re talking about Israel and rising up against Israel, and even though they’ll say it’s a peaceful rise, in this environment where people are conflating the nation of Israel with Jewish Australians, it is driving permission for violence in our society, and they know they’re doing that when they do that,” he said.

“It’s the same with the Nationalist Socialist Network.”

Mr Burgess said he had been involved in discussions, including phone calls and face-to-face meetings, since a senior officials meeting on December 19.

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission chief executive Heather Cook confirmed the agency was engaged in the days after.

Top cop mum on Bondi reforms

AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett appeared before the hearing later on Tuesday afternoon.

Her evidence, however, was more about what she could not say then what she could.

Ms Barrett said the AFP had been “heavily involved” in the drafting of the Bill, but was limited in what she could say about whether it would help prevent an event like the Bondi Beach terror attack.

“I can say that there are aspects of the Bill that will enable us to keep the community safe in terms of … where the legislation, where the drafting is,” she said.

“But again, a lot of this will be a case-by-case basis and until we actually put some of these matters before court, or get to a point where we’re in discussions with the (Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecution) about prospects of a successful prosecution I cannot give 100 per cent assurance.

“What I can say is there are aspects that will indeed allow us to keep the community safe.”

Ms Barrett said aspects of the Bill would also help deal with individuals or groups the AFP have identified who were “aware of where the legislative thresholds sit and … are seeking legal advice in terms of where the criminal thresholds sit.”

She confirmed the federal police also only received the Bill on Monday evening.

“So it’s really difficult for me to talk in any absolutes. In fact, it would be irresponsible for me to do that, as we’re still working through the Bill,” she said.

While not divulging the exact advice given to the government, Ms Barrett noted advice in regard to the AFP’s “role in operationalising the legislation”.

“That is, how would we apply it in a operational setting in order to collect evidence, to investigate an incident or an offence and then proceed, potentially to prosecution.”

In regard to hate symbols, the hearing was told the AFP had a number of matters stemming from protests in Melbourne and Sydney in late-2024 which had “informed” their view.

Department officials grilled over Bondi Bill

Liberal Senator Susan McDonald told the hearing a religious organisation had told her they were first made aware of the proposals during an half-hour meeting last week.

“They were shown the legislation. They had to sign a nondisclosure agreement,” she said.

“They weren’t able to take any photos or … take any records back to discuss with their organisation. They just had half an hour to work through this document, to take notes and then had to wait until this morning to be able to see and print the legislation

“That doesn’t seem a reasonable period of consultation for Australians to be discussing whether or not this legislation is reasonable.”

Departmental officials were grilled by the Coalition over what phrases may be captured by the new offence, namely “globalise the Intifada”, and how the defence of quoting religious texts for the purpose of teaching would operate.

“These offences’ defence is intended to provide some assurance that merely quoting, with nothing more, from historical religious texts would not engage the offence,” Attorney-General Department’s Deputy Secretary for the Integrity and Security Group Sarah Chidgey.

Ms Chidgey denied the carve-out was an acknowledgment the Koran “and associated texts” contained anti-Semitic teachings, noting only that some religious texts contained “archaic language”, and was asked whether a Fatwa – a type of Islamic ruling – would be included.

As for “globalise the Intifada”, Ms Chidgey said the bill did not seek to prohibit “specific statements”.

“We consider conduct generally, not specific scenarios,” she said.

“We’re really looking at appropriate thresholds for criminalising speech, and so that has been particularly what we have had regard to in developing the offence.”

Ms Chidgey noted provisions ensured “ideas of superiority” such as “individuals indicating that people from their country have better food” would not be captured.