NSW Labor slammed for ‘cruel’ new hate speech laws that won’t protect LGBTIQ community

Expanded hate speech laws in NSW have been blasted as “cruel” by influential MP Alex Greenwich, after Premier Chris Minns conceded LGBTIQ+ groups would be excluded from protection under the reforms, with the independent revealing he has been the subject of a series of violent homophobic threats.

After weeks spent foreshadowing new anti-vilification laws in defiance of a recommendation from the state’s expert legal body, Minns announced on Thursday that he would move to criminalise hate speech when parliament resumed next week.

Premier Chris Minns has been criticised over ‘cruel’ new hate speech laws which will exclude the LGBTIQ+ community from protection.Credit: Nick Moir

The changes – part of a suite of measures including new laws which will ban protest outside places of worship, and changes making it a jailable offence to graffiti a Nazi symbol on or near a synagogue – follow a spate of antisemitic violence in Sydney.

But Minns admitted that faith groups and the LGBTIQ+ community would not be covered by the new laws, conceding making wholesale changes to the state’s anti-vilification legislation would be too difficult to achieve quickly. Instead, only speech which intentionally incited race-based hate would be outlawed, a distinction he said was necessary because an outbreak of antisemitic activity against Sydney’s Jewish community.

“We were faced with a situation where we’re looking at naked racism on our streets today,” he said.

“I made a decision that I wanted to progress the hate speech laws as it applies to race immediately.”

That decision was described as “cruel” by Greenwich, a key member of the NSW crossbench who has been a victim of sustained and repeated homophobic threats.

The Sydney MP revealed that last month he was notified by the Australian Federal Police after they discovered a series of homophobic threats had allegedly been made against him by a man who had also been charged over threats allegedly made to members of a Jewish organisation.

The 44-year-old, who was charged under Operation Avalite, a taskforce dedicated to addressing anti-Semitic behaviour, has also been charged in relation to the alleged threats made against Greenwich.

Greenwich said the incident highlighted why it was “vitally important” for vilification law to apply equally across the community.

“I know from personal experience that neo-nazis and other hate groups are targeting LGBTQ people as well as people who are Jewish,” he said. “Protecting one group but not another would be nonsensical, cruel and inappropriate … it sets a dangerous precedent to provide, for the first time, protections for one attribute but not others, and it risks sending the message that the government does not treat the incitement of hatred against those other groups as seriously.”

Minns did not rule out a broader overhaul of hate speech laws, however. While admitting such a change would be complex, “that doesn’t mean it’s impossible, and it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t pursue it”.

“I think we can navigate it, but it’s going to take a bit of time,” Minns said.

In NSW, it is a criminal offence to incite violence based on race, religion or sexuality under section 93s of the Crimes Act. But currently inciting hatred or serious contempt is dealt with under the Anti-Discrimination Act. While it is unlawful, it is not a criminal offence.

Only last November, the premier was warned against changing the act by the NSW Law Reform Commission. It specifically cautioned against creating a “hierarchical” model of protection under the act.

“We emphasise that we do not support such a model. It would be a backwards step for NSW to differentiate between the attributes currently protected by … 93z,” the commission said in its report.

But Minns has argued criminalising hate speech was necessary because the genesis of antisemitism was “hateful, racist language” that inspired violent acts.

While most LGBTIQ+ groups support changes to criminalise hate speech, they have slammed their exclusion from the reforms.

“Our laws should protect everyone against hate and bigotry regardless of who they are, where they come from or what they believe,” Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said.

“The premier must extend these strengthened provisions to everyone impacted by hate in NSW. Any community that is being targeted by hate deserves to be protected under the law and prioritising the needs of one group over another sets a dangerous precedent.”

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