AUSTRALIA’S ALBANESE RECALLS PARLIAMENT – PM plans to introduce hate speech and gun laws
Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday (January 12) that Parliament would be recalled early next week to pass tougher hate speech and gun laws in the wake of the Bondi attack.
The mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach on December 14 shocked a country with strict gun laws and fuelled calls for tougher controls and stronger action against antisemitism. Police say the alleged father and son perpetrators were inspired by the Islamic State militant group.
The federal parliament will return next Monday, and Albanese said he wanted legislation to step up penalties for hate speech and authorise a gun buyback to pass the following day.
The proposed laws will also ease visa denials on the ground of racial bigotry and lower the threshold for banning hate organisations including neo-Nazi groups, officials said.
Last week, Albanese said a Royal Commission would consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia.
