Civil rights groups and pro-gun advocates in Australia have raised concerns that new fast-tracked laws will place undue restrictions on firearms and protests in the wake of the Bondi shootings.
On Monday, the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) recalled its parliament to debate a raft of new laws such as banning the phrase globalise the intifada, limiting the number of guns one person can own, and greater police powers for protests.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said some may feel the changes had gone too far but they were needed to keep the community safe.
A pro-gun politician said the laws unfairly target law-abiding gun owners while civil libertarians said restrictions on protests were an affront to democracy.
On banning the intifada phrase, Minns said its use at protests in Australia and around the world are a call to a global intifada. That is what it means. Not in the Middle East, not in Israel or Gaza but here in Sydney.
He added that it leads to a culture of disunity and is an invitation to violence.
In the aftermath of the Bondi attacks, in which 15 people were killed, the Jewish community accused the government of not doing enough to protect it from rising antisemitism.
The new protest laws will also allow police to restrict demonstrations at places of worship and impose stronger penalties for breaches.
Timothy Roberts, president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, argued that the new law overlooks a recent state supreme court decision which found the move-on power at religious locations infringed on Australia’s implied constitutional freedom of political communication.
Roberts stated, The laws introduced today are an affront to our right to assemble and communicate with each other... passing laws that oppress some parts of our community in the wake of an attack like we saw does not bring us closer - it drives us further apart.
Concerning gun reform, the new laws limit license holders to owning a maximum of four firearms, with exceptions for farmers and sport shooters allowing up to ten. This move follows similar initiatives in Western Australia earlier this year.
One of the gunmen in the Bondi shooting was reported to have six registered firearms.
Other significant gun law changes include increasing the frequency of gun license renewals from every five years to two years, and a review of available firearm types for most gun owners.
Mark Banasiak from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party criticized the legislation as punishing the responsible gun owners, calling them scapegoats for wider societal issues.
Walter Mikac, a gun control advocate whose family was affected by a past mass shooting, welcomed the reforms as necessary for community safety.
The new laws also aim to combat hate speech and allow police to ban protests for up to three months post-terrorist attacks.
Palestine Action Group spokesperson Josh Lees condemned the measures as draconian, asserting that the Bondi shooting is altering perceptions of safety and freedom in Australia.
David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, labeled the move to ban intifada chants a significant shift in acknowledging hate and incitement.
He affirmed the importance of the right to protest as a core Australian value but emphasized that it should not include incitement to violence.
