The Coalition has been heavily criticised for negotiating with Labor to pass the remainder of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s “hate speech” and gun law bill after he split the bill and removed a proposed new racial vilification offence.
Far-left party the Greens said on Saturday they would not allow any of the “hate speech” components through the Senate, resulting in Mr Albanese separating the firearms reforms and offering to work with the Coalition, which previously opposed the whole bill, on the remainder.
Labor is still trying to ram through the controversial Prohibited Hate Groups laws, which are retroactive and allow the government to ban organisations based on a loose definition of “hate crimes” with no criminal convictions or procedural fairness required, along with new aggravated “hate speech” offences and visa powers.
The gun laws are guaranteed to pass due to Greens support, and Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam said on Sunday the Coalition was now working “in good faith” with Labor on the “hate speech” legislation.
“What we’re doing now, which is working through the provisions of this legislation, at the invitation of government to see what can be salvaged from these laws, should have happened at the beginning,” Mr Duniam said.
Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who is Jewish, has also implored his colleagues in parliament’s powerful intelligence committee to pass the “hate speech” laws, reportedly warning if the Coalition blocked them and terrorists launched another attack targeting the Jewish community they would “cede the moral high ground”.
The country’s largest Jewish community peak body, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), which helped draft the laws, also spoke out in response to the bill split and called on the Coalition and Labor to pass the whole original bill.
“We are disappointed there will not be a serious vilification offence and very concerned at the message this will send that deliberate promotion of racial hatred is not considered serious enough to be criminalised,” said ECAJ co-chief executive Peter Wertheim.
But many Aussies responded with anger to the prospect of any of the “hate speech” elements of the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026, and called for it to be scrapped altogether.
This week on the 2 Worlds Collide Podcast, I sit down with Anthony Khallouf (@ausvstheagenda) for a direct, wide-ranging conversation on media, power, and the state of freedom in Australia.
We break down the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026, what it really… pic.twitter.com/jicgXfI3Hx
— 2 Worlds Collide Podcast (@2worldsPodcast) January 18, 2026
The Free Speech Union of Australia, which previously warned the now-scrapped racial vilification offence was worse than the UK’s free speech-restricting equivalent, on Sunday started a “Remind Liberals” campaign calling on the opposition to stand firm on opposing the whole bill.
“We are so far winning against Albo’s ‘Hate Speech’ Bill. But we need to make sure the Liberals stand their ground, and don’t put up a Censorship Bill of their own,” the campaign states.
“This is a fast moving situation, where the position is in flux. Whatever you do, please act now and let your Liberal Senators know your position.”
Anthony Khallouf, founder of independent media outlet Australians vs. The Agenda, said in the 2 Worlds Collide Podcast with Afghanistan veteran Sam Bamford on Sunday that he feared the Liberals would help pass the “hate groups” laws.
“I feel like the Liberal Party’s going to be the one that votes in favour of the organisational listing part of the bill,” Mr Khallouf said.
“It goes after the National Socialist Network and pretty much any organisation that spits in the face of the Jewish community, which is hand in glove with the Liberal Party, it all comes into alignment when you see that the Liberal Party will probably support this bill.
“I think the thing that we do in the next 24 to 48 hours is just hammer home our displeasure at the potential of the Liberal Party supporting that part of the bill, because I don’t think we should worry about it happening to the NSN, I think we should worry about it happening to all of us.”
“I’ll be hugely disappointed if they support that, because where does this go? Who decides what a prohibited group is in the future? What is good for some now, is not good for some later,” Mr Bamford replied.
“The whole bill needs, and I’ve preached this from the very start, needs to be thrown into the shredder.”
🇦🇺 Why are some calling the bill split a “resounding victory”?
It’s NOT.
7,000 submissions? A solid achievement – but no time to consider before tabling the gun grab on Tuesday.
My take – they will return a more draconian hate speech component with enumerated protections, even… pic.twitter.com/ELOHkSgrOS
— Katherine Deves Morgan 🇦🇺🚺 (@Katherine_deves) January 18, 2026
Lawyer and former Liberal candidate Katherine Deves also warned that the split was not a win, urged Australians to continue opposing the remainder of the bill, and warned the Islamic community was trying to use it to get more protections for themselves.
“This is not a victory. I’m seeing people on my side who are running around calling this a resounding victory. We haven’t won yet, this is a long game,” she said.
“Greens and Teals are asking for additional protections, and to enumerate specific groups who have absolutely nothing to do with Bondi, they’re just seeing this as a complete power grab.
“Keep up the pressure. Keep it up. Australia First.”
Either ADVANCE hasn’t read what is still being debated and legislated, or they are deliberately misleading you.
There is no win. The “Hate Speech” Bill is not dead. Albanese dropped one section, nothing more.
The worst provisions remain: retroactive Prohibited Hate Group bans,… https://t.co/chxyxKkJlt
— Celina10101 (@celina101010) January 18, 2026
Albanese’s draconian hate speech laws have not been wholly defeated.
They dropped 10% of it. The 90% remaining is just as important to oppose to keep our country democratic and free. Write to your MP, talk to your mates and keep the pressure on! 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/uU7lCefMhn
— auspill (@aus_pill) January 18, 2026
Social media influencer Celina made a similar post responded to entre-right lobby group Advance prematurely celebrating victory.
“Either ADVANCE hasn’t read what is still being debated and legislated, or they are deliberately misleading you,” she wrote.
“There is no win. The ‘Hate Speech’ Bill is not dead. Albanese dropped one section, nothing more. The worst provisions remain: retroactive Prohibited Hate Group bans, vague and subjective ‘hate’ offences, and visa-cancellation powers without convictions or due process.
“Calling this a win is reckless. This bill doesn’t need amendments. It needs to be killed in its entirety.”
Content creator Auspill also hit out at Advance for their celebrations, saying Australians needed to keep lobbying their MPs and Senators to oppose the bill.
“Albanese’s draconian hate speech laws have not been wholly defeated. They dropped 10% of it. The 90% remaining is just as important to oppose to keep our country democratic and free. Write to your MP, talk to your mates and keep the pressure on!” he wrote.
Header image: Left, Sussan Ley this week. Right, Julian Leeser, Ms Ley and Mr Wertheim in 2022 (Facebook).
