Australia’s Parliament has approved sweeping firearms restrictions and expanded anti-hate speech powers after a deadly attack at a Jewish festival in Sydney that authorities say was inspired by the Islamic State group.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Australia’s Parliament on Tuesday passed two major pieces of legislation tightening gun ownership and expanding anti-hate speech laws in response to a mass shooting at a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach last month that left 15 people dead.
The measures were introduced after authorities said two gunmen carried out the Dec. 14 attack during Hanukkah celebrations in Sydney, citing extremist motivation linked to the Islamic State group. The legislation was initially proposed as a single package but was later split into separate firearms and anti-hate bills before being introduced to the House of Representatives.
Both bills passed the lower house, where the center-left Labor government holds a majority. In the Senate, where no party controls a majority, the firearms bill passed first by a 38–26 vote, followed by the anti-hate speech bill, which passed 38–22 in the 76-seat chamber.
The new gun legislation imposes additional restrictions on firearm ownership and establishes a government-funded buyback program to compensate owners required to surrender weapons. The buyback would be jointly funded by the federal government and Australia’s states and territories.
The anti-hate speech law expands the government’s ability to outlaw extremist organizations that do not meet Australia’s existing legal definition of a terrorist group. Among those named during parliamentary debate was Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamist organization already banned in several countries.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Parliament that the two alleged attackers — Sajid Akram, 50, and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram — would not have been legally permitted to own firearms under the new laws.
The elder Akram, an Indian-born resident who was shot dead by police during the attack, legally owned the firearms used. His son, who survived, has been charged with dozens of offenses, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act.
Burke said the father would have been barred from gun ownership under the new framework because he was not an Australian citizen. The son, though Australian-born, would also have been prohibited from possessing firearms because he had previously been under surveillance by the domestic intelligence agency Australian Security Intelligence Organization in 2019 over alleged extremist associations.
“In responding to the antisemitic terror attack, we need to deal with the motivation and we need to deal with the method,” Burke told lawmakers. “We are dealing with two people there who had horrific antisemitic bigotry in their minds and in their hearts. And they had weapons they should not have had.”
Under the new anti-hate speech law, ASIO will play a role in determining which groups should be formally banned. The neo-Nazi National Socialist Network has already announced plans to disband rather than risk prosecution under the legislation.
The opposition Nationals party voted against the anti-hate speech bill, warning it could have unintended consequences for free expression. Nationals leader David Littleproud said amendments were needed to protect civil liberties.
“The legislation needs amendments to guarantee greater protections against unintended consequences that limit the rights and freedom of speech of everyday Australians and the Jewish community,” Littleproud said in a statement.
Parliament had not been scheduled to resume until February but was recalled early to address what officials described as Australia’s worst mass shooting since 1996. That year, a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania, prompting sweeping national gun reforms and a buyback of nearly 700,000 firearms.
While the federal government is pushing for another buyback, resistance has emerged from the states of Tasmania and Queensland, as well as the Northern Territory, which would be expected to cover half the cost. Burke said negotiations with the states and territories would continue.
The legislation marks a significant expansion of Australia’s post-1996 gun control framework and represents one of the most far-reaching responses to domestic extremism in the country’s recent history.
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