Bills clear lower house and head to Senate amid opposition from conservatives
\n SYDNEY
\nAustralia\u2019s lower house of parliament has passed new laws for a national gun buyback, tighter background checks for gun licences and a crackdown on hate crimes, in response to the country\u2019s worst mass shooting in decades at a Jewish festival last month.
\nTwo bills for stricter gun control and anti-hate measures passed on Tuesday by the House of Representatives in a special parliament session will now go to the upper house Senate, for debate.
\nThe gun control laws are expected to pass with the support of the Greens party despite opposition from the conservative Liberal-National coalition. The anti-hate laws are likely to pass with support from the Liberal Party.
\nIntroducing the gun reforms, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said individuals with \u201chate in their hearts and guns in their hands\u201d carried out the December 14 attack at Bondi Beach that killed 15 people.
\n\u201cThe tragic events at Bondi demand a comprehensive response from government,\u201d Burke added. \u201cAs a government, we must do everything we can to counter both the motivation and the method.\u201d
\nPrime Minister Anthony Albanese recalled parliament early from its summer break for this week\u2019s special two-day session to toughen curbs after the shooting shocked the nation and prompted calls for more action on gun control and antisemitism.
\nThe proposed gun control measures enable the largest national buyback scheme since a similar campaign after a 1996 massacre in Tasmania\u2019s Port Arthur, in which a lone gunman killed 35 people.
\nThey also toughen background checks for firearm licences issued by Australian states, making use of information from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
\nAustralia had a record 4.1 million firearms last year, the government said on Sunday, with more than 1.1 million of those in New South Wales, its most populous state and the site of the Bondi attack.
\n \u201cThe sheer number of firearms currently circulating within the Australian community is unsustainable,\u201d Burke said. The bill passed by a vote of 96 to 45 without the support of the coalition.
\n\u201cThis bill reveals the contempt the government has for the million gun owners of Australia,\u201d said Shadow Attorney-General Andrew Wallace of the Liberals.
\n\u201cThe prime minister has failed to recognise that guns are tools of trade for so many Australians.\u201d
\nA second bill steps up penalties for hate crimes, such as jail terms up to 12 years when a religious official or preacher is involved, and allows bans on groups deemed to spread hate.
\nThe bill, which also provides new powers to cancel or refuse visas for those who spread hate, passed the lower house 116 to 7, with support from Liberal party lawmakers, while the National party, their coalition partners, abstained.
\n\u201cThis bill targets those who support violence, in particular violence targeted at a person because of their immutable attributes,\u201d said Attorney-General Michelle Rowland.
\nSuch conduct was not only criminal but sowed the seed of extremism leading to terrorism, she added. Police say the alleged Bondi gunmen were inspired by the Islamic State militant group.
\nThe measures were originally planned for a single bill, but backlash from both the coalition and the Greens forced the government to split the package and drop provisions for an offence of racial vilification.
\nIn its own reforms, New South Wales limits individuals to possession of four guns, and beefs up the power of police to curb protests during designated terrorist attacks.
\nState police have extended by two weeks in some areas the protest curbs enforced in Sydney late in December. While they do not ban protests outright, critics say they are undemocratic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bills clear lower house and head to Senate amid opposition from conservatives SYDNEY Australia\u2019s lower house of parliament has passed new laws for a national gun buyback, tighter background checks for gun licences and a crackdown on hate crimes, in response to the country\u2019s worst mass shooting in decades at a Jewish festival last month. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526803,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-526781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n