‘Hate speech’ laws set to pass as Liberal leader cuts deal with PM

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s controversial “hate speech” laws are set to pass parliament after Liberal leader Sussan Ley made a deal to work with Labor on an amended bill.

Following negotiations between Mr Albanese and Ms Ley on Monday, the Liberal party room agreed to support a revised Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026, despite concerns from some MPs over the “hate groups” component, and calls for the whole bill to be rejected.

The Prohibited Hate Groups laws are retroactive and allow the government to ban organisations based on a loose definition of “hate crimes” with no criminal convictions or procedural fairness required, and have been criticised by legal experts who warned they are open to abuse.

But Ms Ley is “conscious of delivering a good outcome” for the Jewish community, and both Liberal and Labor sources said her discussions with the Prime Minister were “constructive”, The Guardian reported.

She also met family members of victims of the Bondi Islamic terrorist massacre on Monday with Jewish Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who on the weekend implored his colleagues to pass the entire bill in order not the “cede the moral high ground” to Labor in the case of a future attack.

Shadow cabinet then discussed the “hate groups” laws on Monday night, and agreed on amendments to present to the government on Tuesday morning, The Australian reported, while the remaining elements – tougher penalties on hate crimes and new powers to refuse or cancel visas – are widely supported.

Liberal MPs expressed concerns about organisations being able to be banned in order to “protect the Australian community against social, economic, psychological and physical harm”, and want the powers regularly reviewed along with consultation with the opposition required to list and delist groups.

The Nationals also want further protections added to the “hate groups” legislation, but if Labor agrees to the Liberals’ proposed changes the laws will pass the Senate even if the Nationals cross the floor.

The gun law reforms, which were split off from the “hate speech” elements by Mr Albanese on Saturday, are also guaranteed to pass due to support from The Greens.

However, some Labor MPs want Mr Albanese to push for even stronger “hate speech” laws, and are frustrated about his decision to drop a proposed new racial vilification offence due to Coalition pressure, The Age reported.

One Labor member said the Prime Minister had gone “against the will of the caucus”, and Jewish MP Josh Burns criticised the opposition for opposing the original bill in his condolence speech for the victims of the Bondi attack.

“I know that there would be people inside the Coalition right now who would be deeply uncomfortable with their position on the racial vilification and serious vilification clauses that should have been in this bill,” he said.

“I genuinely hope that there are no incidents and that no one has to deal with this. If that’s the case, and we can all walk away and we’ve got enough done, so be it. But I fear that that may not be the case.”

Labor MPs and Jewish leaders also warned removing the racial vilification office would make it harder to ban Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir, with Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler saying if that was the case then the bill had a “serious problem and the parliament needs to work together to fix it”.

The National Socialist Network, which disbanded on Sunday night in response to the legislation, is still able to be banned due to specific clauses in the “hate groups” laws allowing the Home Affairs Minister to proscribe them for performing Nazi salutes and using Nazi symbols before they were made illegal.

Coalition Home Affairs spokesman Jonathon Duniam said the opposition was open to reconsidering the racial vilification offence, telling Sky News Australian on Monday it should be brought back and put through a “proper process”.

The bills will be introduced to the House of Representatives on Monday morning where they will both pass and be debated in the Senate in the afternoon, with a vote required by 10pm.

Header image: Left, Ms Ley in parliament on Monday. Right, Mr Albanese (PMO).

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