Anthony Albanese’s draft “hate speech” laws will embolden Islamic extremists and punish those who challenge them according to Family First.
By creating “a new offence for inciting hatred in order to intimidate or harass”, Islamic radicals will be able to use this as a shield to avoid legitimate discussion about their agenda, Family First National Director Lyle Shelton said.
Australia’s existing “hate speech” laws are deeply flawed as is evidenced by Kirralie Smith being fined $95,000 for calling out biological males playing soccer in female competitions,” Mr Shelton said.
“Muslims could cry ‘gas the Jews’ on the steps of the Opera House with no consequences for inciting violence, while Kirralie cops a $95k fine for trying to protect girls’ and women’s sports. Make it make sense.
“Making it easier for Islamic hate preachers to hide behind vague ‘incitement’ or ‘harassment’ clauses will only have a chilling effect on the sort of speech needed in a free society to call out extremism.
“A fear of calling out radical Islam, two words the Prime Minister refuses to say, is what led to the Bondi massacre of Jews.
“Making it even harder to call out radical Islam with powerful new laws that can be more easily turned on people making legitimate criticism of Islam will not make Australia safer.”
Mr Shelton noted that radical LGBTIQA+ groups were also seeking to be dealt into the legislation so they too could avoid scrutiny and debate about their harmful child gender change conversion therapies.
Mr Shelton called on the Coalition to reject the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 in its entirety, which also contains unnecessary further restrictions to Australia’s world-leading gun laws.
Family First agreed with Liberal MP Henry Pike who told The Australian:
“The proposed racial vilification offence risks protecting extremists and punishing those who challenge them. Radical Islamist hatred will shelter behind religious exemptions, while those of us who want to make a secular critique of extremist views, or cultural practices incompatible with Australian values, will have to run the risk of a criminal charge. Feeling intimidated is enough to trigger a crime carrying up to five years in jail. A Chinese-Australian may feel intimidated by a social post condemning Beijing’s naval incursions … A Palestinian-Australian could cite intimidation over criticism of Labor’s dodgy visa vetting processes. This is 18C on steroids. Backed by handcuffs and a five-year prison sentence.”
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