Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024 on behalf of the Greens. Well, here we are again with a Prime Minister Albanese special, capitulating to Mr Dutton and letting him run the government's agenda—his government's agenda—in a race to the bottom with the Liberals. Say one thing and do the other—again. This is what Labor have become under Prime Minister Albanese: a hollow shell that stands for nothing. They are so afraid of Mr Dutton and his Trump-like politics that they have no qualms whatsoever in doing a complete 180 on mandatory minimum sentences. Get a backbone, Labor; be leaders. But I think that's just too much to ask from you. You are a lost cause. You have not even hesitated whatsoever to introduce mandatory minimum sentencing laws which are incompatible with human rights, which are discriminatory and which will make no-one safer.

Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister said there were issues with mandatory minimum sentencing as it could be counterproductive. Just two days ago, Minister Watt confirmed there would be no mandatory minimum sentencing. But last night, at the eleventh hour, you all capitulated. You did a dirty deal with the Liberals on mandatory minimum sentences. Shame on you.

This amendment by Labor is an absolute disgrace, and you know it. The Labor Party platform itself opposes mandatory minimum sentencing. Labor are ripping up their own platform here and helping Mr Dutton bring Trump style politics right here to this country. Do you know what? The type of politics that Trump is playing is horrific. Mr Dutton, after Trump's proposal to effectively ethnically cleanse Gaza, praised Trump for being a 'big thinker'. That's who you are doing these dirty deals with. Labor didn't need to do this. We said, at the start of the week, that we would support the bill in its original form. But Labor has instead chosen to work with Peter Dutton.

We have legal expert after legal expert telling us that mandatory minimum sentencing simply does not work, because it takes judicial decisions out of the hands of the judges and the courts and puts them into the hands of politicians. No-one wants that and no-one needs that. The Australian Law Reform Commission has highlighted that mandatory minimum sentences are discriminatory and a breach of our international human rights obligations. The Law Council of Australia president, Juliana Warner, has said that mandatory sentencing laws are arbitrary and limit the individual's right to a fair trial. Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesperson Greg Barns has said that there is simply no evidence to support mandatory sentencing.

We do, however, have extensive evidence that mandatory sentences disproportionately and unfairly target First Nations people and other targeted communities and people of colour. Go and speak to any community lawyer or peak legal body and they will categorically tell you that mandatory sentences are unjust, inappropriate and extremely discriminatory. Politicians are not in a position to understand the individual circumstances of each case, and there is no justifying politicians intervening in judicial discretion. But here we are.

The bill that Labor introduced in parliament, the bill that was scrutinised by the Senate committee, was a step towards increasing protections for marginalised groups. In particular, the additions of gender, sexuality and disability as protected attributes are long overdue and much needed changes. These additions send an important message at a time of continuing attacks on our LGBTQIA+ community, particularly trans people. Equally, the addition of disability as a protected attribute is a crucial step towards combating ableism and discrimination faced by disabled people.

The Greens support protections against hate crimes, but we have very deep and very serious concerns, as I said earlier, about the addition of mandatory minimum sentences, as now introduced by Labor. Once again, Labor are buckling to the extreme demands of Dutton's Liberals.

Hate, bigotry, racism and discrimination very sadly have become a part of everyday life for too many people in our communities. First Nations peoples, of course, have been subjected to this since colonisation almost 250 years ago. Muslims have been subjected to hate and racism pretty relentlessly for the last 25 years as Islamophobia has kept rising. And, recently, we have seen terrible antisemitism. But genuinely combating hate and violence in our communities cannot be resolved by criminal law and criminal law alone. Indeed, the criminal justice system is ill-equipped to protect against hate, with its own history of targeting queer communities, First Nations people and other culturally and racially marginalised communities. This was confirmed in the National Anti-Racism Framework, which was finally completed late last year. It identified the criminal justice system as a sector where racism is especially present and requires urgent attention.

What is needed is revolutionary social change, where racism and white supremacy are called out for what they are—a scourge in our society—where queer people are able to feel safe and live their lives without judgement or discrimination and where our environment, our buildings, our workplaces and our schools and universities are accessible and welcoming to all. This kind of change is not going to come easily, and it's not going to come through mandatory minimum sentencing.

To be effective, responses to hate and racism must be community led, must be grassroots and must dismantle the ingrained structures of white supremacy. The National Anti-Racism Framework also rightly identifies that the Australian government should explore and fund community informed and early intervention solutions beyond civil and criminal penalties to address far-right extremism and white supremacy in communities, particularly as they intersect with other forms of discrimination.

The Greens and I have been calling out the rise of right-wing extremism, white supremacy and neo-Nazism for a very long time, including right here in my first speech in the chamber seven years ago, when I said:

The existence of racism, sexism and other discrimination is not new, but what has changed is its legitimisation, normalisation and encouragement in the media and in politics. Political leaders, in addition to their old habit of racist dog-whistling, are now comfortable outright fanning the flames of racial conflict.

And that in part led to the most deadly and violent attack in our region, which was the Christchurch mosque massacre, where 51 Muslims were murdered in cold blood by an Australian neo-Nazi. But has this country reckoned at all with those murders? No, you have not, as you have not reckoned with the discrimination, racism, oppression and dispossession of First Nations people, and the violence that still goes on. And unfortunately, seven years since then—since I said that—things have only become worse. Politicians from the major parties continue their racist dog whistling, punching down on migrants and people of colour, and cover their own abject failures to address the housing and cost-of-living crisis.

With Trump now in the Oval Office, the risks posed to minorities have become even greater. Trump's actions have already emboldened racist, ableist, homophobic filth everywhere, and his right-hand man, Elon Musk, is actively peddling white supremacist and Nazi views. This was on show for all to see when he gave a double Nazi salute at the Trump inauguration. But there was not a peep out of anyone here. You so-called leaders who talk about hate and racism—not a peep out of you. I am yet to hear condemnation or even criticism of Donald Trump's proposal to effectively ethnically cleanse Gaza. The events in the US do have a flow-on effect here and everywhere. Here we have seen neo-Nazi rallies as recently as January in Adelaide, and households receiving despicable racist material in their letterboxes. This is no surprise when you see the leader of the opposition peddling anti-immigrant hate, fearmongering and reading from his own MAGA playbook.

Then we have the Prime Minister, who capitulates to the opposition every time on migration, which is so hypocritical. This Labor government is so hypocritical, has such double standards, and that is what is allowing the division and fearmongering to continue. Labor and Mr Albanese are so scared of the opposition that they either just want to remain silent or be led by the opposition. What is the point of you being in government—truly? The Greens have been the only political party to take racism seriously. We have a dedicated antiracism portfolio.

The recent spate of antisemitic attacks across the country are abhorrent, and we must call them out, as we must call out every single form of racism. For the last 1½ years, there has been an onslaught of hate and racism directed at Arabs, at Muslims and at Palestinians, and my colleagues from the two parties do not seem to understand that at all or they just want to ignore it. The weaponisation and the politicisation of antisemitism from politicians makes no-one safer, including the Jewish community. And it is not antisemitic to call for an end to a genocide, so stop weaponising and politicising racism.

In the last year and a half we have seen immense grief for the Muslim community, for Arabs, for Palestinians and for so many more in the community who just want justice and peace. But, despite this onslaught of abuse and vitriol they have received, they have kept coming out, week after week, calling for an end to violence, calling for antiracism and calling for peace.

Of course there is a growing fear that our world is being overcome with hate and with violence. It is hard not to fear this when we are here in parliament, where the fearmongering and division goes on. But that means actually acting and using tools that are effective in tackling hate and racism, and that does not include mandatory minimum sentencing. So the Greens will be moving a motion to delete these egregious mandatory minimum sentences from the bill. We will also be moving an amendment for a review by the Australian Law Reform Commission, for these laws to be reviewed by them. And we will be moving that if—as obviously is going to be the case, sadly—the deletion of the mandatory minimum sentences doesn't get up. If it doesn't then we want a sunset clause on these sentences, because they are cruel and they are discriminatory.

We will also be moving an amendment, as the community has suggested, to change the language of sex characteristics. I know Labor opposed that amendment in the other house, but I hope you have reflected on that and will support the community in the changes you are asking for. (Time expired)