Member for Wentworth calls for all parties to work together to pass hate speech laws
Allegra Spender has urged the Coalition to follow through on their calls for “urgent action” in the wake of the Bondi terror attack after leader Sussan Ley flagged the opposition would oppose new hate speech laws.
The independent member for Wentworth – which takes in Bondi, said:
The Liberals and Nationals called for urgent action, now they must follow through. If there are differences within the Coalition, then at the very least they must give their MPs the opportunity for a conscience vote.
Spender said the Greens also have the “opportunity to help shape laws to tackle these issues” after they flagged concerns about the laws.
Spender said:
The horrific antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach demands national action and it’s time all parties and MPs delivered.
The victims, families and Jewish community leaders have been united in their calls for a strong response. The Royal Commission is part of it, but we also need urgent action on the issues that can be addressed quickly to ensure safety of the Jewish community, and give greater safety to all Australians.
This includes stronger hate speech laws and tougher gun laws.
We have a package of bills being introduced next week – they are imperfect but we can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
As MPs we have a responsibility to work on this legislation to deliver the urgent action that is required.
That means all parliamentarians working together.
Key events
A section of Victoria’s Great Ocean Road has been closed due to extreme weather, flooding and possible land slips.
The state’s Department of Transport and Planning said the closure was between Fairhaven and Skenes Creek. The department said:
The closure is under the control of emergency services. Closure points may change with little or no notice.
Motorists are urged to avoid the area. Conditions are changing rapidly and are dangerous.
If travel is essential in the area, please obey all directions of emergency services.
V/Line coach services that normally run along the Great Ocean Road are detouring inland, and will skip Kennet River and Wye River stops.
Kelly Burke
Peter Malinauskas stands by position on Abdel-Fattah criticism
The South Australian premier said he was informed of the new board’s decision to apologise to Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, but he did not agree with that decision.
Peter Malinauskas said:
My position is consistent.
I thought it through very carefully before I made a decision, based on facts and principles, and the facts that informed my decision have now been proven…other people can explain why they’ve changed their position. I certainly don’t feel the need to change mine. I’m in favor of inclusivity. I’m in favor of consistency, making sure that all voices are heard.
Member for Wentworth calls for all parties to work together to pass hate speech laws
Allegra Spender has urged the Coalition to follow through on their calls for “urgent action” in the wake of the Bondi terror attack after leader Sussan Ley flagged the opposition would oppose new hate speech laws.
The independent member for Wentworth – which takes in Bondi, said:
The Liberals and Nationals called for urgent action, now they must follow through. If there are differences within the Coalition, then at the very least they must give their MPs the opportunity for a conscience vote.
Spender said the Greens also have the “opportunity to help shape laws to tackle these issues” after they flagged concerns about the laws.
Spender said:
The horrific antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach demands national action and it’s time all parties and MPs delivered.
The victims, families and Jewish community leaders have been united in their calls for a strong response. The Royal Commission is part of it, but we also need urgent action on the issues that can be addressed quickly to ensure safety of the Jewish community, and give greater safety to all Australians.
This includes stronger hate speech laws and tougher gun laws.
We have a package of bills being introduced next week – they are imperfect but we can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
As MPs we have a responsibility to work on this legislation to deliver the urgent action that is required.
That means all parliamentarians working together.
Adelaide festival will still pay appearance fees to writers
The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, has said the festival will still pay the fee writers would have received had their appearances not been cancelled.
However, he said this would not be extended to those who voluntarily pulled out.
Potter was asked during the press conference why the writers festival can’t go ahead now there has been an apology.
Potter said:
The reality is, whilst there is an apology now, international artists and others have cancelled, made other arrangements.
Adelaide festival must look at ‘what brought on this situation’, says board chair
Potter was asked during the press conference if she supports calls by the South Australian opposition for an independent review into the dumping of Randa Abdel-Fattah.
She said she couldn’t say if she does support it without “knowing what they mean by an independent review, and what are the terms of reference”.
Potter said:
I fully support looking at it, but I think the first thing, the best thing to look at it, is us.
She said the new board had joined “for the love of the festival”:
That’s why we’re here. We believe in the festival. It’s in our core DNA, and we want it to be the international, national festival of Australia.
Potter said earlier during the press conference:
We are going to need to look at, well, what brought on this situation and what’s going to be best to ensure we don’t get into this situation again.
Adelaide festival board chair tried to speak to Randa Abdel-Fattah
The Adelaide festival board chair Judy Potter and executive director Julian Hobba are speaking now, after the board released a statement apologising to Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah.
Potter said they had tried to speak to Abdel-Fattah, but she “was actually feeling she couldn’t deal with it this time”.
Potter said:
We did try to achieve that. I can understand why she didn’t, and we were directed to go through her lawyer.
Tom McIlroy
MEAA calls proposed hate speech laws ‘a threat to our democracy’
The union representing journalists and creative industry workers has come out in opposition to the Albanese government’s hate speech and anti-vilification laws, warning the draft legislation undermines core principles of press freedom and freedom of artistic expression.
In a statement, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance called the legislation “a threat to our democracy” and says it should not pass parliament.
The union said:
Journalists, creative workers, and members of our society must be free to provide criticism and commentary on the policies and actions of their own or any other state, or the actions of those who do so in the name of any religion.
We express our deepest condolences for and solidarity with the victims, families and communities impacted by the horrific terrorist attack at a Jewish Hannukkah celebration at Bondi Beach.
Stifling public conversation, reducing press freedom, and dampening creative expression is not a path to either healing or justice.
Our democracy needs honesty, accountability, and robust debate in order to thrive. Speech prohibition laws should not be expanded; they should be confined. Journalists, artists, and creative workers need to be supported in telling stories and giving commentary without fear or favour.
Jack Snape
‘Smiling assassin’ Jordan Smith basks in spotlight after hitting $1m tennis jackpot
Pending tax advice, tennis coach Jordan Smith is Australia’s newest millionaire, thrust into the global spotlight after beating top professionals in the One Point Slam on Wednesday night.
Smith’s improbable run to the $1m prize made him a magnet on Thursday morning at Melbourne Park, amid more than a dozen local and international interviews, selfies, promotions and autographs.
At 10.30am, having slept for less than three hours and with no food in his stomach, Smith was just trying to do his best with all the attention. “No one’s really experienced this before, right?” he said. “So waking up, yeah, I didn’t really know what to expect.”
Smith was standing just outside Rod Laver Arena, the location where 13 hours earlier he had lived the ultimate amateur sporting dream. AFL icon Bailey Smith was his first scalp, after a solid serve forced an error on the Geelong footballer’s return. Next was Laura Pigossi, the world No 86 who he ousted in a tight rally.
Read more here:
Jordyn Beazley
Hi there, I’ll now be with you until this evening.
Nick Visser
That’s all from me, folks. Jordyn Beazley will take the reins from here. Take care!
More on the ‘dangerous’ pipe bombs found detonated on Canberra footpaths
Nearly a dozen pipe bombs, some of them already detonated, have been found on footpaths and in parks in the nation’s capital, sparking a major police investigation and warnings not to touch the potentially explosive items.
ACT police Det Acting Insp Anna Wronski couldn’t say where the pipe bombs came from or who was behind them, but said the matter was being taken extremely seriously.
“We do not want members of the public to pick them up. We do not want members of the public to bring them to police stations. We want them to call triple zero immediately,” Wronski told reporters on Thursday.
As of Thursday morning, 11 pipe bombs have been found along a one-kilometre stretch of footpath near Lake Ginninderra in Canberra’s north-west.
Read more:
PM criticises Coalition and calls for ‘unity’ on hate speech bill
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, just spoke in Queensland amid flooding in the state, where he is repeating his criticisms of the Coalition, saying the government is set on working constructively across party lines to pass legislation after the Bondi attack.
He repeated his calls from earlier in the day that it should be a moment of “national unity” to address hate speech and gun reform, while lambasting the opposition’s claims that the government was moving too quickly:
We are up for engaging with the Coalition. But people have dismissed this legislation that they called for, without even reading it. They made comments about what is not right. …
People will have a look at what’s going on and scratch their head and say: how it is, after calling for parliament to be brought back, they’re now saying, what’s the rush, parliament can wait into the never-never before we act on these important issues.
Krishani Dhanji
Without Greens’ support, the hate speech bill is in dire straits
The government’s hate speech bill is on a path to defeat in parliament, with the Greens announcing they will not support the bill “in its current form”, while the Coalition has labelled the reforms “pretty unsalvageable”.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament House, the deputy Greens leader, Mehreen Faruqi, said the legacy of the horrific Bondi terror attack cannot “be the undermining of political, civil and human rights”.
While the government has a majority in the House of Representatives, it needs support from either the Coalition or the Greens to pass a bill in the Senate.
The Greens say the bill should be properly scrutinised, and have also called for other groups, like the LGBTQ+ community to be protected from hatred.
‘Everybody needs protection’: Greens outline issues with hate speech bill
David Shoebridge, the Greens’ spokesperson for justice, is detailing the party’s issues with the bill. He said:
The Greens are approaching this legislation from a starting point, which is: everybody needs to have equal protection. It’s clearly divisive for the government to bring legislation into the parliament that protects only one religion, while leaving other religions without equal protection.
You cannot have national legislation that privileges one religion over others, that’s not a starting point for fair, frank, genuine reform in this space. Everybody needs protection.
Greens won’t support hate speech bill ‘in its current form’
The Greens deputy leader, Mehreen Faruqi, said the party will not support the government’s hate speech bill.
She just said:
The legacy of the horrific and appalling violence in Bondi cannot be the undermining of political, civil and human rights or a law that can be weaponised against people who use their conscience to speak out against human rights abuses and atrocities in this country, or overseas.
This bill is broad, it is vast, and it is really complex. And we need to make sure that it is scrutinised and we do our due diligence on this bill.
NYT columnist Thomas Friedman says he was uninvited from Adelaide festival over ‘timing’
Thomas Friedman, a Pulitzer prize-winning columnist at the New York Times, said his invitation to the Adelaide writers’ festival two years ago was pulled because of “timing”, nothing more.
Friedman told the Sydney Morning Herald today that he was invited to the festival, an offer he accepted:
I agreed. A few days later, I was told by email that the timing would not work out. I said, no problem. End of story. That is all I know.
The columnist’s name has been thrown around amid the saga over the disinvitation of Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, claimed recently the board of the festival had dumped Friedman, who is Jewish, amid a pressure campaign from Abdel-Fattah and others at the time.
The premier pointed to the Friedman episode in his attempts to defend the recent decision to rescind Abdel-Fattah’s invitation, which was reversed earlier today. Abdel-Fattah was reinvited to next years’ event, with the Adelaide festival issuing her a full apology.
Andrew Messenger
Queensland yet to commit to gun buyback scheme, health minister says
Queensland’s government hasn’t made its mind up on a federally led gun buyback scheme proposed in response to the Bondi terror attack, according to the state health minister.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has asked the states to jointly fund the scheme with the Commonwealth.
Queensland’s health minister, Tim Nicholls, said the state police minister and attorney general have yet to bring a proposal to cabinet:
Here in Queensland we have some pretty strict gun laws already in place. Can they be made better? Perhaps. We’ll have that discussion.
The Queensland government has also not yet responded to a coroner’s recommendation that it adopt mandatory mental health assessments for weapons licence holders.
Asked if gun reform was a priority, Nicholls said:
The priority for the government has been addressing the root causes of what happened at Bondi, the antisemitism, the failure to call out the behaviour that led people to think that what happened at Bondi was something that could occur in Australia.
We’ve been focused very strongly on calling out antisemitism, on hate speech, on those divisive issues.
