Subjects: Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill.
ISABELLA HIGGINS, HOST: Good morning to Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, who joins us for more on this.
MICHELLE ROWLAND, ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Good morning.
HIGGINS: Great to have you on AM. Now, the Prime Minister has made it clear he wants these laws passed quickly, leaving as little as a week to gain the support of either the Coalition or The Greens. The opposition have concerns about this bill and it's still unclear whether they'll back this. We'll get to that in a moment. But first, the details of this draft legislation will be made public today. Bills are lengthy, but just briefly, who are these laws designed to protect?
ROWLAND: Well, what happened in Bondi was pure evil, and this is a legislative package designed to combat hate. So, it is designed to protect Australians, which is the primary responsibility of every level of government.
HIGGINS: We just heard from Independent MP Allegra Spender, who represents the Bondi community in her electorate. She's saying that she believes these laws won't protect all Australians because they don't create protection for those discriminated on the basis of sexuality, disability or religion. Is there room in a week for serious amendments like this to be considered?
ROWLAND: Well, I acknowledge Ms. Spender's comments and I thank her for her productive engagement and look forward to more of it as we shepherd this through the Parliament. But what I will say is that our focus is on combating antisemitism, and that's what this package of reforms seek to do. Once passed, these will be the toughest hate speech laws the Commonwealth has ever had. I would also just point out in the clip that you just played in terms of the framework for listing prohibited hate groups that this bill is going to introduce a framework to enable the listing of prohibited hate groups, which, exactly as Ms. Spender is describing, do have hate relating to race, national or ethnic origin, but also that will extend protections to the broader community.
HIGGINS: Overall, if this bill is designed to offer the community protections from groups like the neo-Nazis, is it not important that there are extra protections against religious discrimination? We've heard from the Australian Federation of Islamic Council's president saying he was quite concerned that this would only apply to race and not religion.
ROWLAND: Well, we have made it clear that this is a bill which goes towards protections on the basis of race. That is what we have confined it to for these purposes. That is a very specific objective of this legislation.
HIGGINS: And you're not open to considering that further in the next week?
ROWLAND: Well, I would put out there that this has been opened for public consultation. It will be examined by a parliamentary committee. We have had extensive consultation to date and that is going on right now as we speak. The public will have an opportunity to have their say. The Parliament will have an opportunity to consider it. But that is the government's position.
HIGGINS: The Prime Minister did say yesterday that there has been consultation, and not just with the Jewish community. Can you talk us through what other groups have been consulted when building this package?
ROWLAND: We have consulted a number of Christian organisations, as well as Muslim groups, as well as legal specialists. But I also would point out that those consultations are ongoing. They have been going on both yesterday and will continue to go on whilst this bill is in passage through the Parliament.
HIGGINS: And are you expecting that there will be amendments made to this legislation over the next week? Or is this really a take it or leave it look?
ROWLAND: We have taken the time to ensure that we have crafted a comprehensive package that goes towards protecting all Australians. Each element has been carefully designed to address the most pertinent issues that come out of Bondi, and those issues include racial hatred. Another one includes access to lethal weapons. We are putting this forward for the Parliament's committee as appropriate to examine this. We're putting this out there for the public and we look forward to people having their say on this consultation. But I would also urge all members of Parliament to come together to support these objectives in unifying Australia and keeping us all safe.
HIGGINS: Now, the opposition leader has said that she is deeply sceptical about this attempt to cover multiple complex and unrelated policy areas - hate speech and gun reform. Do you think you can win over the support of the opposition to ultimately get this bill through Parliament?
ROWLAND: Well, the Prime Minister has been very clear. These terrorists had racial hatred in their hearts and guns in their hands, and we need to address both issues. That's exactly what this piece of legislation will do, and it's appropriate that this package responds to these issues in a comprehensive way, not a piecemeal way. That is exactly what we intend to do.
HIGGINS: If this becomes a sticking point with the opposition, is there an opportunity to deal with those two issues separately or is this really take it or leave it, one omnibus bill?
ROWLAND: I will not speculate. Again, I would just point out that this has been put forward for public consultation. We are engaging across the Parliament and will continue to do so in a constructive way. But I will say this - this government makes no apologies for cracking down on the monsters out there that seek to promote hatred and tear our community apart, and we make no apologies for getting lethal weapons out of the hands of those that shouldn't have.
HIGGINS: Attorney-General Michelle Rowland it looks like you've got a busy week ahead, but thanks for your time on AM.
