Australia news live: Greens leader fears locking in hate speech laws too fast could ‘criminalise people for legitimate political expression’
Greens leader worried legislation could have unintended consequencesLarissa Waters, the Greens’ leader, also says she’s concerned there has not been enough time to evaluate the legislation, warning there are a “raft of unintended consequences that could occur”.Waters told RN Breakfast:
We’ve only had a handful of days to look at this legislation, and it’s very consequential legislation … And with every turn, experts and stakeholders and faith leaders and academics are finding new concerns with it. A key concern is that you can’t combat hate if you don’t combat it for everyone.
A key concern that we have … is that these laws, as they’re drafted right now, could be weaponised to shut down legitimate political protest.
Waters said the party cannot support laws that could impinge on freedom of expression.
Given the tightness of the timeframe … there is a real risk that locking in laws that aren’t right could criminalise people for legitimate political expression. That is a dangerous path.
Greens leader Larissa Waters. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShareUpdated at 22.00 GMTKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureTom McIlroyIndependent MPs on hate speech laws: ‘we can’t afford to wait any longer’A group of independent MPs – including Allegra Spender, whose electorate of Wentworth includes Bondi Beach – has called on parliament to work across partisan lines to pass hate speech laws.“The victims, families and Jewish community leaders have been united in their calls for a strong response,” the group said on Friday in a joint statement.MPs including Nicolette Boele, Monique Ryan and Zali Steggall have all joined the statement, which reads:
The Royal Commission is part of it, but we also need urgent action on the issues that can be addressed quickly in a way that keeps the Jewish community and Australians of all faiths and backgrounds safe.
We have a bill being introduced next week – it is imperfect, but as MPs we have a responsibility to work on this legislation together to get it right for all Australians.
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.
The Greens have flagged their concerns about hate speech and gun laws, now they have the opportunity to help shape laws to tackle these issues.
We urge all MPs to negotiate in good faith to deliver concrete action.
We can’t afford to wait any longer.
ShareSES advises large stretch of NSW south coast to be prepared for possible flash floodingThe NSW SES is advising a large portion of the state’s south coast, from Wollongong down to the coastal border with Victoria, to be on alert for forecasts of heavy rainfall and damaging winds that could lead to possible flash flooding.The area includes Nowra, Batemans Bay, Eden, Braidwood and Bega.Officials said the forecast could change quickly, urging residents to avoid unnecessary travel, prepare emergency kits and stay on top of alerts from emergency officials. A damaging surf warning is also in place for coastal locations between Eden and Ulladulla.The agency said:
HEAVY RAINFALL which may lead to FLASH FLOODING is possible over parts of the South Coast this morning, with this risk spreading to parts of the Illawarra from later in the morning. Six-hourly rainfall totals between 50 and 80 mm are likely, and isolated totals up to 120 mm are possible.
ShareIf you missed it, here is our Full Story podcast with Randa Abdel-Fattah.ShareUpdated at 22.00 GMTAbdel-Fattah still plans to pursue defamation action against SA premierDr Randa Abdel-Fattah just spoke about her acceptance of the apology yesterday, saying she believes it was a “vindication of my right to speak out as a Palestinian against racism and genocide, and also my very firm belief that this is a vindication of the power of collective solidarity”.She spoke to RN Breakfast, saying she still plans to pursue defamation action against the South Australia premier, Peter Malinauskas, claiming he had thrown “wild accusations and allegations and claims” about her in the turmoil surrounding the festival.
I’m really fed up with the way that my words are being deliberately and maliciously and mendaciously mischaracterised to paint me as an antisemite when I have never, ever, ever expressed any antisemitism against Jewish people. I stand in solidarity with anti-Zionist Jews as a Palestinian who was feeling the real-life impacts of a genocide in the name of Zionist ideology on my people.
I think also it’s a bit rich for the premier to be constructing his words against me on the basis of him speaking with compassion and sincerity.
Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/EPARead more here:ShareUpdated at 21.59 GMTAdelaide festival executive director says apology to Abdel-Fattah came ‘because we meant it’The Adelaide festival executive director, Julian Hobba, said the body issued an apology to Randa Abdel-Fattah yesterday “because we meant it” as a “sincere expression of how we feel”.Hobba spoke to RN Breakfast, saying the apology was consistent with the “best values of Adelaide festival and our longstanding commitment over decades to creating a space where people can express and debate ideas freely and in a civil way”, adding:
We issued the apology because we meant it. Because it’s a sincere expression of how we feel, and it was the determination of the board that it was the way to bring Adelaide festival back into best alignment with its values.
Hobba said there has been no detailed conversation yet about who will be the director of the next Adelaide writers’ week in 2027 or beyond.ShareUpdated at 21.27 GMTGreens leader worried legislation could have unintended consequencesLarissa Waters, the Greens’ leader, also says she’s concerned there has not been enough time to evaluate the legislation, warning there are a “raft of unintended consequences that could occur”.Waters told RN Breakfast:
We’ve only had a handful of days to look at this legislation, and it’s very consequential legislation … And with every turn, experts and stakeholders and faith leaders and academics are finding new concerns with it. A key concern is that you can’t combat hate if you don’t combat it for everyone.
A key concern that we have … is that these laws, as they’re drafted right now, could be weaponised to shut down legitimate political protest.
Waters said the party cannot support laws that could impinge on freedom of expression.
Given the tightness of the timeframe … there is a real risk that locking in laws that aren’t right could criminalise people for legitimate political expression. That is a dangerous path.
Greens leader Larissa Waters. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShareUpdated at 22.00 GMTCoalition shadow minister maintains ‘serious concerns’ with hate speech legislationPaul Scarr, the shadow minister for multicultural affairs, is maintaining the Coalition line that there has not been enough time to evaluate hate speech and gun control legislation put forward by the Albanese government.Scarr is speaking to RN Breakfast, where he has maintained there was no consultation between Labor and the opposition, classifying the legislation as “Labor’s bill” and said the timeline was “totally unacceptable”. He said:
We’ve got serious concerns with respect to whether or not the bill meets its objective …
It really is concerning that we’re in this stage where we’re less than one business day away from parliament coming together and these serious concerns persist. We’re in a situation where we’re dealing with such a significant piece of legislation, complicated legislation, legislation which deals with the raft of matters which are contained in this one monster omnibus bill, which is a totally inappropriate way to address this situation.
Senator Paul Scarr. Photograph: Steven Markham/AAPShareUpdated at 21.05 GMTMartin Farrer‘Profound hurt’: South Australian Jewish community leader criticises Adelaide festival board’s about-faceBack to the Adelaide festival controversy: a leader of the South Australian Jewish community, Norman Schueler, has hit out at the decision to invite Randa Abdel-Fattah back to the festival’s writers’ week next year.He told the Adelaide Advertiser his community was “profoundly hurt” and “in total disbelief” over the author’s invitation to next year’s writers’ week only six days after she was barred from this year’s event because of “cultural sensitivity”.“I believe the board has acted with unconscionable conduct, it has pandered to a vociferous minority … it’s run scared into the arms of self-righteous persons (and) trashed the reputation of the festival,” he said.“The previous board acted with courage and moral clarity.“I do not believe the board has the right to apologise on our behalf, our communities have been profoundly hurt.”ShareGreat Ocean Road rain ‘quite extraordinary and terrifying’Kristy McBain, the federal emergency services minister, said the rain in Victoria was “quite extraordinary”. She told RN Breakfast:
What we saw yesterday afternoon on the Great Ocean Road was quite extraordinary and terrifying for the people that have been caught up in it. They had 170mm of rain in a six-hour period. That’s the highest of any 24-hour period since site records began there in the year 2000.
So that was an extraordinary amount of rain coming off the mountains there. There are now emergency relief centres open in Lorne and Apollo Bay. It’s obviously still a pretty dangerous situation, and I urge anyone in the area to closely listen to advice from authorities.
ShareUpdated at 21.07 GMTLocal councillor says flash flooding in Victoria a ‘big shock’Leon Walker, a councillor for the Surf Coast Shire, spoke to ABC News this morning after hundreds of people were evacuated due to severe flash flooding along the Wye River in Victoria.A thunderstorm dropped more than 170mm of rain on the Lorne area in Victoria’s south-west coast on Thursday, sweeping cars away as flood waters surged through the area.Walker said everyone in the area is safe, but said it would take time for the area to clean up.
It was a big shock, it happened very quickly to Lorne.
The amount of rain and water that we had come through is astounding to be honest. … We’re talking cars washed out to sea.
Cars swept out to sea as flash flooding hits Victoria’s Great Ocean Road – videoShareUpdated at 20.37 GMTMartin FarrerIndie band Pulp will play Adelaide festival after allThe fallout from the Adelaide festival fiasco continues with an overnight statement from the indie band Pulp that they will be playing at the event next month.The British band had initially told the organisers they were joining the boycott of the event over the “dreadful” barring of Palestinian Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah from the Adelaide writers’ week.At the organisers’ request, the band delayed their announcement of the boycott while the festival tried to resolve the crisis.But after the apology to Abdel-Fattah, the band is back on board.Jarvis Cocker of Pulp performs at the Glastonbury music festival in June 2025. Photograph: Anthony Harvey/ShutterstockFrontman Jarvis Cocker said on Instagram last night that he was happy that the band was now “prepared to perform at the music festival once more”.“This will be a free concert, open to anyone who respects the freedom of all voices to be heard. It will also be fun.”Read our full story here:ShareUpdated at 20.30 GMTGood morning, and happy Friday. Nick Visser here to take things over. Let’s get to it.ShareDouglas SmithMore on that stop-and-search hearing in Melbourne.Counsel for the plaintiffs, Thomas Wood from the Human Rights Legal Centre, argued the declaration made by Victoria police was “invalid”.He told the court yesterday:
The Act authorises, once a declaration is made, what can only be described as, ‘extraordinary powers’.
There are two that concern the interests of my client. They are search powers to search any person without forming any reasonable suspicions and without requiring a warrant, with the only condition being that that person being within the designated area.
And then there is what we’ve called a face-covering power, conferred by section 10ka (of the Act).
In court, counsel assisting for the Victorian government, Sarah Keating, said the state accepted that police requiring people to “remove a face-covering in some instances can burden political communication”, but contended that the “burden is indirect”, and was not “significant”.The challenge was brought on by Invasion Day community organiser, Tarneen Onus Browne, environmental activist Benny Zable, and human rights advocate, David Hack, who was searched by police in Melbourne’s CBD on 7 December.ShareUpdated at 20.12 GMTVictorian stop-and-search police powers in constitutional federal court challengeDouglas SmithThe assistant commissioner for Victoria police is set to be cross-examined in federal court this morning as a constitutional challenge by a trio of activists looks at whether a declaration of Melbourne’s CBD as a designated area for four months was legal.It is the second day of a two-day hearing. Constitutional arguments were laid out by counsel from both sides yesterday, focusing on how the implied freedom of political communication can be interpreted by police; and whether a protester wearing face-coverings should be considered a form of “political expression” or if they may be concealing their identity to commit a crime.Under the declaration initiated from the Controlled Weapons Act, which was revoked four months early on 9 January, police, including protective service officers, were allowed to stop and search anyone without a warrant if they were within the designated area.Police were also able to require police to remove face-coverings – regardless of whether they were being worn for political or health purposes, such as to protect against the effects of crowd-control substances, such as pepper spray.ShareUpdated at 20.16 GMTWelcomeGood morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer to get the day started and then Nick Visser will take the news baton.Share
已Opublikowany: 2026-01-15 22:04:00
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