Warning ‘hate speech’ laws could lead to violence – but Jewish groups push for more

Australia’s flood of new “hate speech” laws are causing public anger and could spark a violent backlash, a legal expert has warned, but Jewish groups say they need to go further.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry into right-wing extremism held two days of hearings this week in order to examine new laws banning “Nazi ideology” devised in response to a peaceful and police-approved protest against Jewish lobby influence on Australian politics in November.

The group behind the rally, the National Socialist Network, has since disbanded in response to separate “hate speech” and “hate groups” laws brought in by the major parties in response to the Bondi Islamic terrorist attack in December.

In addition to the proposed Nazi ideology laws, NSW passed “hate speech” laws in February last year in response to the Dural caravan hoax, and strengthened them again this year, while similar new laws have been passed, amended and/or announced in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.

Constitutional law expert Anne Twomey told the inquiry the new laws lacked clarity and risked angering the public, which could lead to violence, ABC News reported.

“I am concerned at the proliferation of laws at both the state and federal level restricting speech,” Dr Twomey said.

“Some people feel visceral anger about such laws, feeling that their rights are being stripped away and that it’s destroying their freedom. There is a real risk that they then take the view that the only way of being heard … is through violence.”

She also said the new NSW laws were too vague, and used the example of NSN-favoured brand Helly Hansen in asking whether it would be criminal offence to wear one of their black jackets in public.

“This lack of precision and clarity is inappropriate in a criminal law,” she said.

“Is wearing a black Helly Hansen jacket knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol in public, if you happen to know that Nazis use those particular jackets?”

– Constitutional lawyer, Professor Anne Twomey. pic.twitter.com/8W6aH19fT7

— Australians vs. The Agenda (@ausvstheagenda) February 19, 2026

Anglican Bishop Dr Michael Stead also warned that the new laws could end up increasing support for far-right groups.

“I don’t think the proposed laws are actually going to stop neo-Nazis,” he told the inquiry.

“If anything it might actually bolster their cause.”

The Free Speech Union of Australia made similar statements in a written submission to the inquiry, warning that speech restrictions were “counter productive in tackling extremism, by preventing free discussion on topics that are contentious and instead allowing grievances to fester”.

“Extremists (whether seen as ‘right-wing’ or ‘left-wing’) frequently deploy themes of government suppression and censorship, framing government authorities as seeking to conceal ‘the truth’ or prevent the ventilation of dissenting points of view. It is unclear how playing into this narrative helps address ‘extremism’,” the FSU wrote.

But many Jewish community groups and representatives spoke out in support of the proposed laws in written submissions and during the hearings, and said they should go further.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which helped write the most recent federal “hate speech” legislation, said the “promotion” of hatred should be illegal, not just the incitement of hatred, and co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said the NSN protest showed there was a “blindspot” in existing laws.

“Clearly there was a blindspot somewhere by whoever approved this in terms of understanding that having a phalanx of neo-Nazis standing outside New South Wales parliament and allowing anti-Semitic rhetoric constituted a public safety issue regardless of whether that rhetoric fell off out of the law,” he said.

In addition to a “promotion of hatred” offence, the ECAJ also wants the proposed laws to remove an existing “reasonable person” test, and to cover “reckless” conduct as well as intentional conduct.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Special Envoy on Anti-Semitism Jillian Segal spoke out in support of the laws, and said in a written submission she wanted all support for Nazi ideology criminalised, not just that which “would cause a reasonable person to fear harassment, intimidation or violence or fear for the person’s safety”, and like the ECAJ wants “reckless” conduct to be punishable.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Michele Goldman said her organisation backed the laws, and warned anti-Semitism was being “normalised in ways not seen for generations”.

“These extremist ideologies never limit themselves to one community, they threaten the fabric of our multicultural society, we strongly support NSW’s nation-leading laws, which make it an offence to support Nazi ideology,” she said.

Legal director of homosexual advocacy group Equality Australia Heather Corkhill said the laws needed to recognise that neo-Nazi ideology impacts other groups, not just Jewish people.

“The law should not inadvertently create two tiers of justice by creating higher penalties for some crimes by Neo-Nazis over others,” she said.

Header image: Jillian Segal at the inquiry (NSW Parliament).

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