Labor attempt to pass minimum jail sentences for hate speech crimes | Australian politics

The Albanese government will attempt to pass minimum jail sentences of between one and six years for hate speech crimes in a bid to stave off opposition attacks on its response to antisemitism ahead of the federal election.

The move marks a significant departure from Labor’s own national policy platform, which opposes minimum sentencing laws which it says do “not reduce crime”, “lead to unjust outcomes” and are “often discriminatory in practice”.

In a late night debate on Wednesday, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, introduced amendments to the federation chamber that would enable minimum jail sentences for threatening force or violence against people on the basis of their race, religion, nationality, national or ethnic origin, political opinion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status.

Burke described the proposed changes as the “toughest laws Australia has ever had against hate crimes”.

“We want to see this go through both houses of parliament, with as many members of parliament coming together as possible in a show of unity to the Australian people that these hate crimes, these forms of bigotry, have no place in Australia at all,” he said.

“Anybody who says that hate speech is somehow a subset of freedom of speech doesn’t understand that words can be bullets.”

The amendments will create minimum mandatory jail sentences of 12 months for less serious threats of violence, such as nazi salutes, while offences associated with listed terrorist groups could carry a minimum jail sentence of six years.

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said the minor party supported the original bill but had “very real concerns” with the inclusion of mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

“This is a clear deviation from principles that the government has espoused and, what’s more, it is utterly unnecessary,” he said.

“Now, because the opposition has asked for it, we’re seeing substantial amendments being put forward at the last minute, just because the opposition has asked for it, when the bill could have got through anyway.”

Labor’s national platform opposes minimum mandatory sentencing, stating the “practice does not reduce crime but does undermine the independence of the judiciary, lead to unjust outcomes and is often discriminatory in practice”.

When asked by the ABC in January about the opposition’s proposal to introduce six-year minimum sentences for terror offences against places of worship, Anthony Albanese said there were “issues” with mandatory sentencing that could lead to “counterproductive” outcomes.

On Wednesday evening, Liberal senator James Paterson criticised Labor for capitulating on the issue.

“It’s been very clear in this country since this antisemitism crisis has become a terrorism crisis and got out of control under Anthony Albanese’s watch, that we needed strong action to send a strong signal to deter people who are responsible for these attacks and that only mandatory minimum sentences would be sufficient to achieve that,” he told a Sky News opinion program.

The opposition will also push for tougher sentencing for people who threaten or urge violence against places of worship in an apparent deal with the government to bypass the need for crossbench support in the Senate.

The proposal would criminalise the offence, carrying jail sentences of up to seven years, in response to a series of highly-publicised antisemitic incidents against Jewish places of worship.

Burke said the government believed the opposition’s amendments would already be covered under its own amendments but would support them as he didn’t believe “any harm is created” by them.

The independent MP for Wentworth, Allegra Spender, failed to gain support for amendments that would have criminalised serious vilification, such as someone calling for a “final solution” in relation to Jewish people or holding signs with offensive language at an anti-trans rally.

The bipartisan push for stronger laws on hate speech comes after a spate on incidents, including an arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne in December and the discovery of a caravan filled with explosives to cause a “potential mass casualty event” in January.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed in December that Australia’s support of United Nations motions supporting the end of the conflict in Gaza demonstrated an “extreme anti-Israeli position”, linking the votes to the synagogue attack.

Wong defended Australia’s position against Israel’s criticisms in a December speech, saying it was not antisemitic to “expect that Israel should comply with the international law that applies to all countries”.

“Nor is it antisemitic to call for children and other civilians to be protected, or to call for a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.”