Chris Minns vows to strengthen NSW hate speech laws in wake of antisemitic incidents
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Premier pledges crackdown on anyone ‘preaching hatred in the community’ as prime minister hopeful Israel-Hamas ceasefire will hold. The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has vowed to strengthen the state’s hate speech laws in response to a spate of antisemitic incidents, including the vandalism of a prominent Jewish leader’s former home on Friday.
The series of attacks in Sydney, which include vandalism of homes and setting vehicles alight, has prompted concern from community leaders over an escalation of violence in reaction to the conflict in Gaza. On Friday, NSW police said it was also investigating Islamophobic graffiti found on a corner store in western Sydney.
Minns said a “difficult decision” would be made when NSW parliament returns to crack down further on anyone “preaching hatred in the community”. “Our government’s going to make a decision soon, a difficult decision, but the right one, I believe, to strengthen hate speech laws in NSW so that if someone’s preaching hatred in the community, it doesn’t manifest itself two months or three months later in a firebombing or an attack or something worse,” he said on Sunday.
“No stone will be left unturned, and we will, of course, meet all kinds of violent activity in NSW with a massive, massive police response.”. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who was in western Sydney to announce $1bn in road funding alongside Minns, said his government was “determined to stamp this out”.
A special federal police taskforce is investigating antisemitism across Australia after the terrorist attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne. The taskforce arrested a Sydney man on Thursday for allegedly making death threats towards members of a Jewish organisation.
