This was targeted at hate preachers’ abusive language directed at Jews, which has long fallen under the threshold for prosecution under old laws because it did not include direct threats and allowed the sermons to go on unchecked.
But civil liberties groups, Coalition MPs and legal experts have expressed worry that the new, lower threshold for criminal speech might capture debate on contentious topics such as migration or terrorism.
The faith leaders’ intervention might give some political cover for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, who has found herself in an awkward position arguing the hate speech laws were rushed and flawed after spending weeks demanding Albanese return to parliament to fully enact all the recommendations from antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal, who called for anti-vilification laws.
The prime minister has been accused of playing political games by pressuring the Coalition to support a complex and broad-ranging bill in a short timeframe. As a result, he now appears unlikely to have a pathway to working with the Coalition. The Greens, meanwhile, are seeking to add protections for sexuality and religion, which will open up even more complex debates.
Albanese has savaged Ley for allegedly politicising the Bondi attack, which she rejects.
Referring to Ley during his press conference in Brisbane on Friday, he said he had not been banging a lectern and “engaging in performative conduct”.
In the letter, the leaders said Albanese should go back to the drawing board and revamp the proposed laws on serious religious vilification that were shelved in 2024.
They also argued against calls to remove a defence in the draft laws that would create an exemption for religious leaders citing a religious text. Coalition MPs and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry want this defence removed, so that Muslim preachers cannot misuse passages from the Koran.
“It would be inconsistent with the prime minister’s pre-election promise to faith leaders that ‘legal protections for people of faith will not go backwards under Labor’ as well as his commitment to progress religious protections in a bipartisan manner with the Coalition,” the letter from religious leaders said.
Privately, some key Jewish leaders are dismayed that Albanese had only appeared to consult Peter Wertheim, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, on the hate speech laws.
“We are ready to work with the government to improve the bill to remove unintended consequences and overreach while achieving the aims of combating antisemitism and racial and religious hatred. But we need more time,” the letter said.
“We therefore respectfully urge the government to delay the introduction of the bill to allow for an adequate consultation period, and to engage directly and meaningfully with faith communities to get the right balance in this legislation. Australia’s strength lies in its ability to protect both public safety and fundamental freedoms.
“Measures intended to combat hate should reinforce trust, fairness, and inclusion, not weaken
them.”
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