A new criminal offence of inciting racial hatred will be introduced to New South Wales parliament next week as part of a crackdown on antisemitism. The reform goes against the advice of a former chief justice, who found existing laws were strong enough. The proposed change has drawn criticism for failing to criminalise other forms of hatred.
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00:00A wave of anti-semitic attacks has sparked an urgent government response.
00:06I don't think it's an over exaggeration to say it's a near emergency.
00:10Inciting racial hatred is prohibited under civil law and can attract damages.
00:14But now the Minsk government plans to make the behaviour a criminal offence punishable by jail.
00:20They've seen the effect that hate speech has had in creating an environment in which acts of anti-semitism are normalised
00:26and they're taking strong and appropriate action.
00:28Last year the state's Law Reform Commission, chaired by former Chief Justice Tom Bathurst,
00:32recommended against criminalising inciting hatred, saying it was difficult to define precisely,
00:38as it meant different things to different people.
00:40This ambiguity makes hatred an inappropriate standard for the criminal law.
00:44The proposed offence only deals with hate based on race, excluding other grounds like sexuality and religion.
00:51Courts have interpreted race as extending to Jews and Sikhs, but not Muslims.
00:56Why is there a difference? Why are there more reprehensible forms of hate?
01:01The Premier's open to criminalising other forms of hate down the track.
01:05The issues in relation to hate speech laws for other offences are, to be really frank with you and honest, far more difficult to codify.
01:14The more serious offence of inciting violence based on such attributes is already in the criminal code.
01:19The government plans to expand the section by making it a crime to display a Nazi symbol on or near a synagogue.
01:25And to harass, intimidate or threaten people accessing places of worship.
01:30The proposed new offences would attract sentences of up to two years prison, penalties the opposition has criticised as too soft.
01:38The proposed graffiti offence, which has a two year maximum, is less than the already existing provision for damage to property in the Crimes Act, which has a five year maximum term.
01:49The Coalition says it will wait to see the details before deciding whether to support the reforms.
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