Over 50 Muslim organisations community leaders have heavily criticised the Australian government for new hate speech laws, claiming they indiscriminately target the Muslim community.
Yesterday, Australian lawmakers passed significantly tougher laws against hate crimes and gun violence following the mass shooting at a Bondi Beach Jewish celebration on December 14.
The aftermath of the attack triggered widespread condemnation of Australia’s approach to “hate speech”, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke saying that the attack, which was carried out by individuals with “hate in their hearts and guns in their hands”, demanded a “comprehensive response from the government.”
The laws, which divided the governing coalition, would allow the minister to ban hate groups, with groups such as neo-Nazis and the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir often cited as examples.
Muslims respond
In a statement, Muslim organisations highlighted four areas of the new hate speech bill that are most problematic: “New racial vilification offences, a new hate listing regime, changes to visa requirements, and changes to gun ownership.”
Most notably, the aforementioned changes would criminalise previous legal conduct of groups as future criminal conduct, and membership of a proscribed group could lead to a sentence of up to seven years in prison, with directing or funding the group punishable by up to 15 years.
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“Everybody has been outraged by new vilification offences, so the PM has shelved this for now,” the statement said.
Concerns have been expressed that the laws will primarily target Muslims, which the statement says is why “the need to outlaw radical Islamic groups” has dominated the conversation.
Passing the laws
The laws have not been met without controversy, with Prime Minister Albanese dropping the anti-racial vilification provision and accepting some other harsher amendments that were put forward.
Such amendments include a new aggravated offence for “hate preachers” and provisions to also capture guest speakers.
After Sussan Ley, leader of the Opposition of Australia, described the original bill as “unsalvageable”, the laws are now more geared towards banning extremist organisations and those who seek to incite violence, Ley said.
“In the national interest, the Liberal Party has today stepped up to fix legislation that the Albanese government badly mishandled,” Ley said in a statement.
“We have succeeded in narrowing the scope of this bill to deal with what we said it should do – tackle antisemitism and tackle radical Islamist extremism,” Ley said.
In response to such targeting, the Muslim community statement summed up their concerns as follows: “In short, everything that restricts the speech and conduct of white Australia has been shelved or is being renegotiated. The part that strips the Muslim community of its rights will still be rammed through parliament.”
“It’s the war on terror all over again.”
“Our community besieged whilst the rest of Australia gets on with its life,” the statement concluded.
The statement was signed by the following groups: AFIC (Australian Federation of Islamic Councils), Ahlul Sunnah Wal Jama’ah Association of Australia (ASWJ), Al Azhar Mosque Belmore, Al-Hafiz Quranic Centre, Al-Hasanat Deccan Welfare Association of Australia, ASWJ Auburn (Bukhari Bookstore), ASWJ Dandenong South, ASWJ Revesby, Campbelltown Youth Centre (CYC), Deccan Australian Welfare Association (DAWA), FITYA Family and Youth Community Centre, Global Islamic Youth Centre (GIYC), HIYC Coolaroo, ICWA Maylands, Ihya Institute, IISCA Brunswick, Islamic Council of Western Australia, Masjid As-Salaam Wollongong, Masjid Darul Imaan, Rahilah, Stand 4 Palestine Australia, Stand 4 Uyghurs Australia, Sydney University Muslim Students Association, The Australian Arabic Association of Western Sydney Inc, University of New South Wales Muslim Students Association.
