Quoting religious text could be defence against Australia’s new hate speech laws, draft bill shows

Referencing ‘teaching or discussion’ could give exemption from legislation Labor hopes to pass next weekGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPeople accused of breaching the Albanese government’s new hate speech laws could argue their conduct was legal because they were quoting from a religious text, draft legislation shows.
Extracts of the draft bill obtained by Guardian Australia show it will be illegal to publicly promote or incite hatred, or disseminate ideas of superiority or hatred towards of another person or group of people based on their race, colour, or national or ethnic origin.But within the draft bill is a proposed legal defence to the rule that states the legislation does not apply to an individual directly quoting a religious text.
“[The offence] not apply to conduct that consists only of directly quoting from, or otherwise referencing, a religious text for the purpose of religious teaching or discussion,” the draft states.
The government promised to tackle antisemitism, crack down on so-called “hate preachers” and hate speech following the alleged Bondi terror attack in December.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is expected to have more to say about the plans early on Tuesday morning. Albanese on Monday confirmed parliament would sit for two days on 19 and 20 January to rush through the new laws. Parliament had been due to return for the year on 3 February. The sitting will include condolence motions for the 15 people killed at Bondi last month.
The new laws will create serious offences for hate preachers, increase penalties for hate crimes, create a new racial vilification offence, introduce a new listing for prohibited hate groups, at a lower threshold than the terror group listing, as well as introduce provisions to establish the biggest gun buyback program since the Port Arthur massacre.
The legislation will also ensure offenders driven by extremism will have that motivation factored into their sentencing, strengthen existing bans on prohibited symbols, and create a new offence for inciting hatred in order to intimidate or harass. The home affairs minister will have new powers to cancel or refuse visas.
Crossbenchers are due to be briefed on the legislation on Tuesday. Some privately expressed concerns the major parties would use the secretive intelligence and security committee to limit genuine consultation on the plan. Labor and the Coalition shut out crossbench and independent members from serving on the committee.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, said the laws would be “the toughest hate laws Australia has ever seen”. Continue reading...