By Stephanie Bastiaan
The horrific Bondi Beach attack has left Australians – and the Jewish community in particular – shocked and grieving. There are more questions than answers. Based on police reports in the media, there appear to be gaps in national security and counter-terrorism monitoring, and serious questions about whether existing laws targeting incitement, violence and terrorism have been appropriately applied.
These are precisely the questions a Royal Commission must answer.
This is why Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is right to reject Labor’s ominous Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026. Australia does not need a rushed expansion of hate speech laws. The Criminal Code Act 1995 and the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, when enforced appropriately, should be adequate to combat incitement and other related crimes. Nonetheless, all reforms should wait until the Royal Commission has concluded and the legislative gaps and procedural failures, if any, are properly identified.
What is clear, is that terrorism in the name of religious extremism is the primary security threat facing Australia.
However, not dissimilar to the “misinformation laws” defeated in 2024, it is very clear that this ominous omnibus bill is another attempt by the Albanese Government to implement sweeping, dystopian laws that will censor free speech.
With broad terms, vague definitions and low thresholds for convictions that carry heavy prison sentences, this bill will ensnare ordinary citizens, political dissenters, and – if Prime Minister Albanese delivers on his support for further broadening the net to include protections for LGBTIQ+ and other groups – even women defending sex-based rights.
As one former foreign affairs minister remarked, these laws have likely been “sitting in the drawer” for some time, awaiting the moment of crisis that has arrived.
We all know where this story ends. Put a foot wrong, misspeak, or express the “wrong” opinion, and any Australian could soon face years behind bars.
Free speech in Australia is already on shaky grounds – increasingly buried under oppressive so-called ‘anti-vilification laws’. Jasmine Sussex will be back in court this year over her natural reaction of horror felt by any woman confronted by the ludicrous prospect of a man trying to breastfeed a newborn baby, and as Sall Grover learned in court last year, one cannot even spontaneously laugh at absurd evidence produced in the form of a candle labelled with a caricature without being punished with a heavy financial penalty.
In the aftermath of such a horrendous tragedy, Australians need calm, responsible leadership. As Albanese offers the olive branch to Ley to reach a compromise on the hate speech component of his bill – now in limbo due to the lack of parliamentary support – our leaders would do well to take notes from the United Kingdom, where speech restrictions have contributed to the erosion of public trust in both major political parties. In 2023–24 alone, more than 12,000 people were arrested for things said online. One woman, Lucy Connelly, received a 31-month prison sentence for an emotionally charged tweet posted, then deleted and apologised for, in the immediate aftermath of the murder of three young girls by a migrant.
Australians do not want nor need legislative reform that expands state power, suppresses dissent, and treats free expression as necessary collateral damage in the name of ‘social cohesion’.
These laws aren’t about protecting Australians – Jewish or not; they are a weapon for the government and activists to shut down political discourse on contentious issues.
In a healthy democracy, the people must be able to discuss the impact of terrorism, migration, rising crime, women’s sex-based rights, and any other issue without fear of prosecution.
Stephanie Bastiaan is Head of Advocacy at Women’s Forum Australia
Photo by: Chad McNeeley
Women’s Forum Australia is an independent think tank that undertakes research, education and public policy advocacy on issues affecting women and girls, with a particular focus on addressing behaviours and practices that are harmful and abusive to them. We are a non-partisan, non-religious, tax-deductible charity. We do not receive any government funding and rely solely on donations to make an impact. Support our work today.
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