Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes)

“Hence, I support this bill, which builds upon all the other measures this Albanese government has delivered, from outlawing the Nazi salute to the trade of Nazi symbols to anti-doxxing laws—which, unfortunately, happened again in the aftermath of Jewish creatives being doxxed but will also benefit others, particularly women, because women are the ones who get doxxed.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“I think this is a really important bill. I think it goes to that first part of the success ingredient for a multicultural society—that we need to constantly review and, where necessary, strengthen the legal foundations and the protections for Australians whatever their background. To me, the great promise of Australian multiculturalism is that great Australian promise of a fair go —that everyone gets a chance to fulfil their human potential and live their life in our country free from discrimination no matter their faith, their ethnicity, their circumstances, how long they've been here or their identity. That's what this bill is about—protecting Australians. I commend it to the House, and I hope, as the ASIO boss said, we can lower the temperature.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“Those members have a choice: they can support this bill and take a stand against hate or they can continue to dog whistle and divide.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 04 Feb 2025

“This bill is not one I wanted to ever conceive of, but it is an important step forward to meet this moment and to set the standards of what is and is not acceptable in this country. No person of any race, religion, nationality, national or ethnic origin, political opinion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status or disability should feel anything other than equality before the law, and that is what this bill does. If you are going to try to incite hatred and violence against those people, you will be charged and potentially convicted under our criminal law. We might not be able to stamp out every discussion and conversation in this country. We might not be able to restore everything overnight. But what we can say is that, in the mainstream of our society, in the suburbs that we are all proud to represent, we will not tolerate this.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“So I want to express my fulsome support for the legislation and go on record to say exactly what this legislation will do in the remaining five minutes of my speech.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“Fundamentally, at a difficult time, when the temperature is high as far as division, a lack of cohesion and a sense that there's this febrile atmosphere that puts people under threat and at risk—particularly, recently, members of the Jewish community but not just members of the Jewish community—it's right that government and parliament take responsible action. As I said, we have done that in a very timely and responsive way at every opportunity over the last 18 months, and we're doing that again now.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“This bill, this hate crime legislation, builds upon the landmark steps already taken by this Labor government to protect Australians from hate symbols and salutes—and I will touch on some of the things that the Albanese government has done—including Nazi symbols and those of terrorist organisations. When that legislation was introduced, I said hate symbols were being used as beacons to influence and to spread hate. This bill ensures that those who use that foundation of hatred to threaten violence will face serious criminal consequences.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 04 Feb 2025

“The government introduced legislation to create new criminal offences that strengthen protection against hate crimes. This bill will make it clear that urging or threatening violence and force is unacceptable and subject to serious criminal penalties.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 04 Feb 2025

“It's important that this parliament passes legislation like this before we depart this fortnight. It's critical that this federal parliament is seen to act and actually get through key changes because this is the sort of leadership that our communities are looking for. They see it as our responsibility. Whether you're coming from the regions or from the cities, whatever state or territory you might come from, these are issues that should be bringing us together. We have a responsibility to act together, and I support the resolution.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“That's why I'm proud to support this bill. The Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024 will strengthen the law against hate speech in this country. It will create new criminal offences to stamp out violence and hatred. It's my hope that this law will send a really clear and unambiguous message that the threats that this community has experienced—these acts of violence, these acts of hatred—are utterly unacceptable in this country. I'll be supporting the bill because it's unacceptable to me and, on behalf of the people of Hotham, it's utterly unacceptable to our community.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 04 Feb 2025

“I commend the Bill to the Parliament.”

Australian Labor Party • Senator • 06 Feb 2025

“This bill is unfortunately necessary because of the mixed messages from this government, which has allowed hate free rein. But it's not just the provisions of the bill which matter; it's the use of them, as my friend so rightly pointed out. Antisemitic displays must be prosecuted and antisemitic protests must be stopped. Existing laws have not been used. Protests in our street in which antisemitic displays have been paraded have dragged on for months. Universities have set up antisemitic camps. While this bill will mitigate some of the government's failures, we can only hope the provisions will be used. Existing provisions of the Criminal Code have not been used—like division 80, which makes it an offence to urge violence against individuals or groups on the basis of race, religion and the like.”

Liberal Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“This bill was introduced in the last sitting week of September 2024. Given the urgency, the coalition wrote to the government before parliament resumed in October, offering to pass the bill as written. The government did not take up that offer. So, instead, we engaged constructively in the committee process and in the community, working to a timetable of the government's choosing. We examined the bill carefully, and, when the committee reported back after the end of the 2024 sitting year as the government requested, we recommended that the bill be passed. But we also said that, in the process, it should be made stronger and should cover attacks against places of worship. We plan to move those amendments, and I hope the government supports them.”

Liberal Party • MP • 04 Feb 2025

“Sadly, that is why we need legislation such as this. It's so that we can combat words and we can right the wrongs.”

National Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“The bill itself—the changes are welcome. I think they're too late, but we have to do this. We should have done it a long time ago, but we are doing it now. That's a good thing. There are some simple straightforward steps that the government are proposing to take. Those steps lower the threshold for criminality, particularly for those who urge violence against individuals or groups. Instead of proving that the person intended that the violence occur, the police now only need to prove that the person was reckless as to whether the violence would occur, and that is a welcome change. These laws remove the good faith defence for those urging violence. As the previous speaker, the member for Lynes, said, you can't urge violence in good faith, not in this situation. It's a welcome change. There's also some expansion of the offences that relate to the urging of violence in relation to a range of personal characteristics on the basis of which a person or a group is targeted.”

National Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“Now we've all got a job to put this fire out, and this bill is a part of that. It's a part of what we've done here.”

National Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“Regardless, the changes made by these laws as introduced are welcome. I only hope they will be enough to start to stem the tide. Inaction is no longer acceptable. The scourge of antisemitism in this country must be stopped.”

National Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“What counts at the end of the day is that we not only make the changes but also require our courts to give appropriate sentencing. At this stage, I'm not aware of a court in Australia giving the kind of penalty for the behaviour we have seen—I'm not aware of any outcome that would meet my threshold. That's why it's important that we move to mandatory sentencing in this area, because it seems that the judiciary are not up to the fight—or they don't realise the gravity of what is happening here, don't think what is happening in Australia today is so different to what was happening in 1932 and 1933 in Germany or don't think that that thin veneer of civilisation can be stripped away from the most urbane of us. If it could happen there, it can virtually happen anywhere. We need to be on our guard right from the first step and stamp out that kind of behaviour. The legislation is good, although it doesn't go far enough, and, of course, I will support it.”

Liberal Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“The actual bill itself amends many things. Apart from a deterrent, it also gives the ability to remove the offender from the ability to recommit the same offence. While that's a good thing, that needs to be strengthened. I don't feel this bill is anywhere near strong enough. As far as I'm concerned, if you are going to commit such an evil act that is so against Australian values, Australian culture and traditions and the very essence of what we stand for as a country, the very accepting non-racist country that we stand for—if you are going to act and carry on like that, then there's no place for you here as far as I'm concerned. They're the sorts of measures that I think need to be looked at when we start being serious about developing this particular legislation.”

Liberal Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“This legislation is an important step forward, but it is too little, too late. That should be the slogan of Labor's approach in office: too little, too late. (Time expired)”

Liberal National Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“We welcome the belated changes. These changes seek to lower the threshold for criminality for those who urge violence against individuals or groups. Instead of proving that a person 'intended' for violence occur, police now only need to prove that the person was 'reckless'. Can I just say, as a former police officer, that words are key when you have 'must' and 'shall' and 'could'. It is a much higher threshold for the police to prove that the person actually intended for the violence to occur. Now it will be 'reckless'—whether they knew their actions could lead to violence—which obviously makes it a lot easier for police to prosecute. These laws, as currently drafted, remove the good faith defence for those urging violence. This too is a welcome move because you cannot urge someone to engage in acts of violence in good faith. These laws introduce new offences for threatening force or violence.”

Liberal Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“I hope that, as a parliament, we can come together and support this bill. I hope that we can come together and make sure that all the amendments that will strengthen this bill are agreed to. There has never been a more important time for the unity of this country, for us to come together and defeat antisemitism. We need to act and we need to act now.”

Liberal Party • MP • 04 Feb 2025

“I fear that this bill is too little, too late. The cynic in me says it's come about because we have an election coming up; I hope to God that is not true. What we've seen over the past 12 months is disgusting. It is disgusting to see in Australia.”

National Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“As legislators, we should be doing everything in our power to make sure those same mistakes are never repeated and that we stop them when we see them in our universities and in our streets. Hopefully, this bill goes some way to stopping them.”

Liberal Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“This bill is long overdue, and I support it. Let's hope that Australia gets its strength back and supports Israel. They have an existential question of survival. That's why they went to war against Hamas and Hezbollah. People don't realise that it's not just about the land and occupying areas on the West Bank. There is an administration called Hamas, and there is Hezbollah, which are backed by Iran. Their whole plan is not to just get back a bit of land. They want Israel wiped off the map, and we can't let that happen. What we can do in this country, though, is make it crystal clear that the behaviour we've seen should never have been tolerated and should've been called out when it happened, and then we wouldn't have let this monster out of the bag. We need to put it back in. Antisemitism has been through the ages: the pogroms in the Middle Ages, the pogroms in the Russian Revolution in and after World War I and then again with the Nazi Holocaust. The rest of the world, including Australia, supported the creation of the State of Israel at the United Nations. It has a right to exist, and we in Australia should be supporting that right. We shouldn't be tolerating any more of this horrible behaviour that we've seen in our own country.”

National Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“That being said, the changes made by the laws that are proposed before the House today are changes that the coalition welcomes and supports. We regret that it has taken so long to get to this point, given that the bill was introduced in the last sitting week in September 2024. We've made efforts to encourage the government to speed it up. It's good that we have this bill before us. There should be no doubt in the minds of anybody engaging in the kind of violent antisemitic conduct that we have seen, sadly, over the last year and a half, that they face serious jail time. The measures in this bill are strong but they are necessary. The scourge of antisemitism is something that we must be resolute in opposing. It is fundamentally at odds with the values which underpin the modern Australian nation, one of the world's great multiracial, multi-ethnic, multicultural and multireligious nations, and that is why strong action is necessary.”

Liberal Party • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“It is a good thing that the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024 will pass the parliament today. It will send a strong message to those who are responsible for the attacks against the Jewish community, in particular, in recent months, that there are very real consequences for their behaviour, that the Parliament of Australia does not tolerate it and that we want them to feel the full force of the law to deter them from engaging in any more terrorisation of the Jewish community.”

Liberal Party • Senator • 06 Feb 2025

“We in the coalition look forward to being part of approving this bill and achieving the outcome we all want through its passage.”

Liberal Party • MP • 04 Feb 2025

“When you are extending criminal law, you must always be careful that you get it right because, when you try and legislate criminal law in haste, there is room for error and unintended consequences. We believe the bill as it stands at the moment has got the balance right, and it's been through an extensive and exhaustive Senate inquiry process. There have been people who have looked at it from the perspective of both ensuring that it doesn't attack the rule of law but also ensuring that it targets that hate that we all want to target, so the Greens support this bill as it's presented here in the House.”

Australian Greens • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“The Greens know there are elements, particularly in the original bill, that are essential to deal with some of the hate crimes that we're seeing. We'll take some measurable good. We've been trying to say to the government, 'Work with the rest of the chamber here, the diversity of the crossbench, and don't just be dragged by Peter Dutton to the single lowest common denominator.' But Labor can't help themselves, can they? They just can't help themselves. They keep surrendering time after time. There's no principle that they won't sully, and that's why we're here with these mandatory minimums. We know mandatory minimums won't work. We know they're going to fight against all of the purported intent of this bill. Shame on you both for doing this.”

Australian Greens • Senator • 06 Feb 2025

“Within this context it is commendable that legislation has been brought forward by the government. The current bill will modestly improve the existing federal Crimes Act by lowering the fault element for existing offences from intent to recklessness, as well as by introducing a new offence for threatening force or violence. But we should be listening more carefully when the people and groups that this legislation is designed to protect continue to protest its inadequacy.”

Independent • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“The events of the last 16 months firstly led to the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Hate Symbols and Other Measures) Bill 2023, which I supported when we legislated it in 2023. The new and additional measures included in the bill now before the House are a further response to the increasing prevalence of hate speech and hateful conduct in our society.”

Independent • MP • 05 Feb 2025

“Subsequent events, especially those of the last 15 months, have indicated this, and that is why we now have this legislation before us today. It may be one step in the right direction rather than completely up to the task. I note the member for Wentworth's amendment to create a new offence of the promotion of hatred, which, in these troubled times, I will support.”

Independent • MP • 04 Feb 2025

“This bill is a crucial element of our nation's response to the rising antisemitism the Jewish community faces. It's an addition to our Criminal Code that, frankly, is overdue. But it's not the start and end of how we as a parliament, as legislators from across the political spectrum, should respond to the problems that we face. In their submission, the Law Council of Australia warned:”

Independent • MP • 05 Feb 2025