Australia’s tough new hate crime laws have received mixed reactions, with one expert from the Australian Catholic University warning it might have the opposite than intended effect. Source: The Catholic Leader.
ACU Thomas More Law School senior lecturer Bill Swannie said there was strong evidence hate speech laws gave attention to the wrong people.
“The people who make anti-Semitic comments, for example, are part of extreme fringe movements and if they weren’t amplified through the media and through political commentary, they would have a very, very, very small audience,” Dr Swannie said.
He said if the purpose of a hate speech law was to eradicate hate speech and eliminate its harms, then it seemed to give more attention to the statements than they deserved.
The hate crime laws, passed on February 6, came after sustained pressure to do something about a rise in antisemitism.
The laws create new criminal offences around advocating or threatening the use of force or violence against a group or a member of a group or against a place of worship.
The Albanese Government agreed to calls from the Opposition for mandatory minimum sentences to be included in the new laws, including six years for terror offences, three years for financing terrorism and one year for displaying hate symbols.
The legislation followed a series of escalating antisemitic attacks across Australia in recent months.
In an open letter published on February 7, Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge joined other Queensland Christian leaders to express his solidarity with the Jewish communities in Australia.
“Queensland has not felt the force of these attacks as other parts of Australia have; but there is no cause for complacency here,” the letter said.
“We had thought that anti-Semitism was deeply alien to this country, not part of our DNA as it is elsewhere in the world.
“You are our flesh and blood, and we will do whatever we can to accompany, support and defend you.”
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Expert warns hate crimes law might backfire as Church responds in support of Jewish communities (By Joe Higgins, The Catholic Leader)
