Hate-speech stoush as stronger laws pass NSW parliament

The NSW government has accused the state Liberals of ‘teaming up’ with the Greens to weaken its hate-speech reforms, but the opposition has hit back, saying Labor rejected its raft of stronger measures.

NSW Police at Newtown Synagogue in January after an anti-Semitic vandalism attack. Picture: Simon Bullard.

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The NSW government has accused the state Liberals of “teaming up” with the Greens to weaken its suite of hate-speech reforms, saying the move failed the Jewish community during an anti-Semitism crisis.

But the opposition hit back, saying the government’s reforms didn’t go far enough after it rejected its own proposals, elements of which were backed by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.

Early on Friday, the NSW upper house amended the government’s new provision outlawing the incitement of racial hatred, giving the offence essentially a three-year “use-by date” and broadening its exemption to allow hate speech in a wider ­religious setting.

That offence, prompted by rising anti-Semitism – particularly across the past four months – passed through parliament in the early hours of Friday, along with new offences cracking down on protesters targeting places of worship and tougher sentencing for the use of Nazi symbols, especially when used to target ­synagogues.

It is the weakening of that new incitement offence, however, that prompted the government to accuse the Liberals of abandoning the Jewish community as it faced near-unparalleled local threats.

“The most bewildering and unacceptable amendment (to the new incitement provision) is one that was moved by the opposition themselves,” NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley said overnight in parliament.

“(The Liberals have) teamed up with the Greens to weaken hate speech laws in NSW. That is not political leadership. That’s not the sort of support that the Jewish community in NSW and Australia were looking for. The Jewish community wanted this (legislation) and the government has delivered it to them.”

NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley. Picture: John Appleyard

The legislation passed with amendments, which replaced the statutory review with a review done by the Legislative Council, inserted a three-year sunset clause – meaning it will have to be re-legislated again in 2028 – and expanded the exemption.

The legislation as tabled had sought to exempt only instances of “directly referencing religious texts during religious teachings” – the amended provision expands that to include instances “directly referencing religious texts during religious teachings or discussions”.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip welcomed the “critical” legislation but said the body was concerned about the broader exemption included in the amendments “which we fear may limit the law’s ability to appropriately deal with hate preachers”.

“Genuine religious discussion and teaching should never include or require incitement to racial hatred, but this exemption will give those who wish to spread hate a much broader defence.”

The Australian has revealed since Hamas’s October 7 attacks prevalent hate speech in certain fringe and radical southwest Sydney mosques, in the majority of cases targeting the Jewish community or Israelis.

NSW Police said in all cases – such as referring to Jewish people as “vile and treacherous” or “descendants of pigs and monkeys” – the rhetoric had not breached the threshold of existing provisions outlawing incitement or threats of violence.

The new provision outlawing “racial hatred” would likely capture that sort of rhetoric.

Although the exemption has been expanded it remains centred around “directly referencing religious texts”, which would still allow the new provisions to capture hate speech not from scripture, regardless of the context of which it was said.

NSW opposition legal affairs spokesman Alister Henskens. Picture: Damian Shaw

But on Friday, opposition legal affairs spokesman Alister Henskens hit back, saying that Labor had refused to back his party’s proposals, which included criminalising the display of terrorist symbols, stronger penalties for offenders who used Nazi symbols, and an 18-month standard non-parole period for anti-Semitic ­offenders. The Liberals also had proposed banning face disguises at protests, and giving police stronger powers to block and police rallies.

The Coalition supported all three Labor bills, with a sunset clause on one, because anti-Semitism must be tackled now, Mr Henskens said.

“By siding with the Greens, Labor voted down sensible and tougher Coalition amendments, which would have made our community both feel safer and be safer.”

The offence of harassing or intimidating people attending a place of worship carries a maximum two-year custodial sentence or a maximum $22,000 fine, or both.

The new laws clarify that graffiti is a “public act” for the purposes of the offences of threatening or inciting violence, and displaying Nazi symbols, with tough new sentences for displaying by public act a Nazi symbol on or near a synagogue, the Sydney Jewish Museum or a Jewish school.

An offender driven by “hate” could also face an aggravated sentence, while inciting racial hatred would also carry a maximum two-year sentence or a fine up to $11,000, or both.