MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s parliament on Tuesday began debating draft anti-hate speech and gun laws after two gunmen killed 15 people at a Jewish holiday in Sydney last month.
The draft law would create new restrictions on gun ownership and create a government-funded buyback program to compensate people forced to hand over their guns.
Anti-hate speech laws will see hate groups that do not meet Australia’s definition of a terrorist organization, such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, banned. The Liberation Party has been banned by some countries.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told parliament that gunman Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed Akram, 24, would not be allowed to possess firearms under the proposed laws.
The father, who was shot dead by police while attacking Jewish worshipers during Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi Beach on December 14, legally owned the firearm used.
His injured son has been charged with dozens of crimes, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act in the attack, which was allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group.
Burke said the Indian-born father would be banned from owning firearms under the proposed laws because he was not an Australian citizen.
The Australian-born son will also be banned because he came under surveillance by spy agency ASIO in 2019 over his links to suspected extremists.
“When responding to anti-Semitic terrorist attacks, we need to address both the motivations and the methods,” Burke told parliament.
“What we are dealing with are two individuals out there who have horrific anti-Semitic prejudices in their minds and hearts. They have weapons that they should not have,” Burke added.
ASIO will also play a role in deciding which hate groups should be banned under proposed anti-hate speech laws. The neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network has announced plans to disband rather than subject its members to legal sanctions.
The legislation is expected to pass parliament on Wednesday.
Parliament was originally scheduled to resume in February this year, but did so early in response to Australia’s worst mass shooting since 1996.
That year, a massacre in Tasmania left 35 people dead, prompting the country to introduce tough gun laws that drastically reduced the number of publicly owned rapid-fire weapons. The government subsequently bought back nearly 700,000 guns.
But Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory are resisting the federal government’s push for a new gun buyback scheme, with states expected to pay half the cost.
Burke said his government would continue to negotiate buybacks with states and territories.
