The New South Wales Government’s contentious hate speech laws have cleared the first hurdle despite MPs questioning how they would explain themselves to constituents excluded from the “two-tiered” legislation. Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
As the Crimes Amendment (Inciting Racial Hatred) Bill 2025 passed through the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday afternoon, the association responsible for regulating the legal profession expressed concern about injecting “imprecision and subjectivity into the criminal law”.
The legislation is the second tranche of the Minns Government’s response to several attacks on the Jewish community over summer. It will establish a new section, 93ZAA of the Crimes Act, making it a crime to intentionally and publicly incite hatred towards another person, or group of people, on the grounds of race.
The NSW Government has faced broad resistance to the legislation. The confinement of the bill to race has caused consternation among legal experts and other advocates, with other faith groups and the LGBTQ community arguing the law should be extended to cover all vulnerable sections of society.
With the Coalition falling in behind the bill without amendments, an unlikely alliance of the upper house Greens MPs and Libertarian MP John Ruddick are expected to pitch a limited rearguard action against the legislation.
The resistance is likely to be short-lived, with the Coalition providing the Government with the necessary votes to pass the legislation through both houses.
MPs across the political aisle condemned the raft of abhorrent attacks on the Jewish community and the rise of anti-Semitism across Australia. But there remained disquiet about several aspects of the legislation, and the reduction of time to consider the legislation from five days to 24 hours.
While confirming the Coalition’s support, Opposition health spokesperson Kellie Sloane expressed concern at the pace of delivery and the “selective” drafting of the bill, including the exclusion of other faith groups and the LGBTQ community.
Upper house MPs were bracing themselves for a long night tonight on Thursday after Environment Minister and leader of the Legislative Council Penny Sharpe moved to remove the hard adjournment of 10pm. Debate could stretch into the morning before the bill is voted on.
FULL STORY
The hate speech laws have cleared the first hurdle. This is why MPs are worried (By Max Maddison, Sydney Morning Herald)
