Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

That was quite a remarkable contribution from Senator Cash complaining about the government taking eight months. They were in government for 10 years. Senator Cash was Attorney-General for a lot of that time and did absolutely nothing on this and yet comes in here and tries to lecture us, and the Attorney-General as well, on antisemitism. There would be no member of the parliament, be it in the Senate or in the House of Representatives, who would have done more to combat antisemitism in their life than the Attorney-General. So that was a completely ridiculous speech from Senator Cash that was very loose with the truth about the issues that we're dealing with and went nowhere to being held to account for the 10 years that they were in government and did nothing on this. They did absolutely nothing and yet are complaining about us taking eight months.

The reality is that, in June 2022, the Attorney-General's Department provided advice to the Attorney-General in the incoming government brief relating to legislative reform in response to the diversifying nature of violent extremism and increased occurrences of online extremism. It was noted in that brief that reforms might include acts which do not meet the current threshold on terrorism contained in the Criminal Code, such as the display of extremist flags and insignia. The department provided further advice to the Attorney-General between September and November 2022, with a decision by the Attorney-General to develop measures addressing extremist flags and insignia made on 28 November 2022.

Senator Cash mentioned the bill that they brought in. What she conveniently neglected to mention was that that was introduced a couple of days after a Liberal member in Victoria appeared on the steps of the Victorian parliament with Neo-Nazis. That was actually what prompted them to come in here and try and cover their tracks. They still haven't dealt with that issue in Victoria, and it is tearing the Victorian Liberal Party apart.

So there was no substance to what Senator Cash was going on about. It was no true reflection of what they did in government, which was nothing, and then a hagiography of what we've been dealing with over the last couple of months.

In terms of the Attorney-General, what he said on day one is that, if we needed to do more, we would. We want the parliament to come together to send the strongest possible signal that there is no place, none whatsoever, for any gesture or any symbol that seeks to glorify the Holocaust. This is a moment that unites the parliament and the nation. The government wants to bring everyone together to vote for this bill and send the strongest possible signal to those who seek to spread fear and hatred that there is no place in this country for antisemitism and no place in this country for those who celebrate Nazis and the Holocaust. Right from the start, the Attorney-General said that the Nazi salute is an evil and offensive gesture and it has no place in Australian society. We said that, if we needed to go further, that we would. And we have.