New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says his government will implement law changes to keep the community safe following the latest anti-Semitic attack, including a ban on protests outside religious institutions. Source: Sky News Australia.
Mr Minns vowed to crack down on hate speech after the firebombing of a childcare centre in Sydney, saying violent attacks “begin with words”.
“I don’t think these anti-Semitic attacks begin with someone committing a violent offence, I think they begin with words, in particular racist words, vitriolic words, that then spark something in a bad actor who goes and commits a terrible offence,” he said.
“So we want to nip it in the bud at the beginning. We’ll do that with law.”
Mr Minns said the new legislation, adopted from Western Australia, would prosecute individuals for hate speech, without requiring that additional element of incitement to violence.
The Premier examined the legislation last year but rejected it at the time – a decision he said he now regrets.
In addition, Mr Minns said he would introduce laws to ban protests outside religious institutions – legislation he has previously flagged.
“If we are serious about freedom of religion, and freedom of association, to have somebody vilified for going into, for example, the Great Synagogue in the middle of Sydney, because of their religion … They should be free to do that, free from intimidation, free from hatred,” he said.
“So I’ve made a decision to introduce legislation to put a zone around all religious institutions so people that practice their religion can do it in peace.”
FULL STORY
Hate preachers and pro-Palestinian activists who sow division with racist vitriol to face new anti-hate speech laws in NSW (By Sharri Markson, Sky News Australia)
