Hate symbols and terror offences will be punishable with mandatory jail terms ranging from one to six years in Australia, after lawmakers passed a series of amendments to hate crime laws on Thursday.
The new laws were passed on Thursday amid a wave of high profile antisemitic attacks which have become a heated topic of debate in the country.
The amendments have been described by officials as the “toughest laws Australia has ever had against hate crimes”.
But critics say that the ruling Labor party is caving to opposition demands and going against its own policy of opposing mandatory jail sentences.
Under the amendments passed on Thursday, displaying hate symbols or performing a Nazi salute, is now punishable with at least one year in prison.
Other penalties include a minimum of three years for financing terrorism and six years for committing or planning terrorist acts.
Former Labor senator Kim Carr criticised the party for what he said was a “clear breach of the Labor party national platform”.
Labor opposes mandatory sentences on the grounds that such penalties do not reduce crime, undermine the courts’ independence and are often discriminatory in practice.
But opposition parties did not rush to welcome the new amendments either, accusing Labor of dragging its feet on the amendments.
“The parliament is not acting today because of the decisiveness of the Labor Party,” Liberal senator James Paterson told reporters in Canberra.
“The prime minister has been dragged kicking and screaming to finally introduce tough legislation that will ensure there are real penalties for this behaviour.”
Performing the Nazi salute and displaying Nazi hate symbols has been banned since January 2024 and carry up to one year in jail. The amendments on Thursday make the jail term mandatory.
“This is not about politics,” home affairs minister Tony Burke said on Wednesday night as the amendments were introduced to parliament. “This is about whether the Australian Parliament believes it’s acceptable to advocate threaten or commit violence against another person because of who they are, who they pray to or who they love.”
There has been several attacks on Jewish targets in Australia in recent months.
Last week authorities in Sydney found a caravan containing explosives and an antisemitic note. The discovery came just a week after a childcare centre near a Jewish school and synagogue in Sydney was set on fire and antisemitic graffiti was seen on its wall.
In December, a synagogue in Melbourne was set alight with worshippers inside. No one was seriously hurt in the incident, but it sent shockwaves throughout the country.
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