Parliament approves gun buyback and broadened anti-hate laws

Australia’s House of Representatives passed sweeping gun-control and anti-hate speech legislation in an early-recalled sitting, responding to the Dec. 14 shooting that left 15 people dead at a Jewish festival near Bondi Beach. The measures were approved in the lower house by 96 votes to 45 and now head to the Senate, where the government expects Green Party support.

The package separates firearms reforms from counter-extremism measures and establishes a federally funded national buyback program to compensate owners required to hand in weapons. The government says the buyback will target “surplus and newly restricted firearms” and aims to reduce the nation’s roughly 4 million registered guns. Under the proposed financing, states and territories would meet half the cost; Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory have signalled resistance to bearing that share and ministers said negotiations will continue.

The firearms bills tighten licensing and expand background checks, with new provisions to allow intelligence agencies to supply information into the permit process and improve information sharing on applicants. Controls on firearm imports are to be tightened. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke argued that had the new rules been in place before Dec. 14, the alleged perpetrators “would not have been allowed to possess guns,” noting that the father in the attack legally owned six firearms.

The anti-hate and counter-extremism measures broaden powers to ban organisations and to penalise individuals who spread hate, radicalise others or promote violence. The reforms create aggravated offences for preachers, leaders or adults who seek to radicalise children and make it easier to refuse or cancel visas for people suspected of terrorism or of espousing hatred on the basis of race, colour or national origin. The government framed the laws explicitly as a response to antisemitism following the Bondi attack.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the response targeted both ideology and instruments of violence. “At Bondi, the terrorists had hate in their hearts, but they had guns in their hands,” he told Parliament, and added, “We’re taking action on both, tackling antisemitism, tackling hate, and getting dangerous guns off our streets.” The measures would also permit outlawing groups that do not currently meet Australia’s legal definition of a terrorist organisation; commentators have cited groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir as an example, noting the group is outlawed in some other countries.

Political debate in the House exposed divisions over civil liberties and federal reach. Nationals leader David Littleproud warned the legislation “needs amendments to guarantee greater protections against unintended consequences that limit the rights and freedom of speech of everyday Australians and the Jewish community.” Liberal leader Sussan Ley reached a negotiated compromise with the government on a narrowed version of the hate-speech proposals, but it remained unclear whether the Nationals would support the bills in their final form in the Senate.

Legislators and ministers invoked the 1996 Port Arthur massacre and the national response that followed, including a buyback that removed nearly 700,000 firearms, as precedent for decisive federal action. The House-passed bills now enter Senate debate, while the government continues to press jurisdictions for buyback funding commitments. A national day of mourning for the Bondi victims was scheduled for the Thursday following the sitting.