Labor has scrubbed criminal penalties for seriously vilifying minority groups from its upcoming hate crimes bill, just months after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised to introduce stronger measures to protect people from hate speech. Source: The Age.
Sources familiar with Labor’s promised “hate speech” bill said it had been significantly weakened in the final stages of drafting and was now starkly different from Mr Albanese’s original pledge, which was made earlier this year following months of dispute over the war in Gaza and community concerns about inflamed antisemitism.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will introduce the bill to Parliament today but sources, who spoke anonymously as they were bound to confidentiality in order to be briefed, said it will not use the words “hate speech” nor introduce a serious anti-vilification law, which was a key aim of the bill.
Instead, it will focus on acts and threats of violence.
The Age reported in May that Mr Dreyfus was drafting a hate speech bill that would impose criminal penalties for serious instances of vilification based on a person’s race, sexuality, gender, disability or religion.
The softer version of the laws will disappoint those who had demanded strong action on hate speech, such as LGBTQ advocates and Jewish representatives, but should satisfy stakeholders who were more concerned about freedom of religion and speech, such as Christian groups.
The Australian Christian Lobby has previously pushed back on any laws that would criminalise the legitimate exercise of freedom of speech or religion, saying that would violate human rights.
FULL STORY
Labor’s promised hate speech bill will not deal with ‘hate speech’ (By Natassia Chrysanthos, The Age)
