Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia announced on Thursday new measures to combat antisemitism, including legislation that would “crack down on those who spread hate, division and radicalization.”
The measures come days after two gunmen opened fire at a beachside Hanukkah celebration on Sunday, killing 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl. The authorities said the men appeared to have been motivated by Islamic State-inspired antisemitism.
At a news conference, Mr. Albanese said that his government would draft legislation to combat hate speech and those who spread hate, including measures to target preachers who promote violence and to list organizations whose leaders promote violence or racial hatred. It also would increase penalties for hate speech.
The home affairs minister will be also given new powers to cancel or reject visas for people who are deemed likely to spread hate and division in Australia, he said.
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza, Australia has seen an increase in antisemitism and attacks on its Jewish community, Mr. Albanese said. “It is clear we need to do more to combat this evil scourge. Much more,” he said.
In the days after the shootings on Bondi Beach, Mr. Albanese has come under increasing scrutiny about whether his government had done enough in response to warnings that dangerous antisemitism was rising across the country.
Australia’s current hate crime laws prohibit advocating or threatening violence against people based on characteristics including race, sex and religion. In February, in response to concerns about growing antisemitism, new offenses were added, including threatening to damage places of worship. Penalties were also increased for displaying Nazi and terrorist organization symbols.
It is not clear what behaviors and speech will be captured under the new legislation, and the government did not provide examples. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said at the news conference that the new legislation would capture two kinds of instances where people or organizations have “gone right to the limits of the law but have managed to stay on the legal side of it.”
For individuals who used language that was “clearly dehumanizing, unacceptable, having no place in Australia, but have not quite crossed the threshold to violence,” the new legislation would lower that threshold, Mr. Burke said.
The same standard would apply to organizations that exhibited divisive behavior and philosophy, Mr. Burke added.
Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
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