The NSW Government’s inquiry into a law banning phrases like “globalise the intifada” should deal directly with racial and religious hatred and not risk unnecessary restriction of expression, says a submission from the Archdiocese of Sydney.
The criminalisation of hate speech is often imprecise, subjective, arbitrary and inconsistent, it contends.
The Minns Labor government announced an inquiry by the lower house law and safety committee on 22 December, with comments due by 12 January, and recommendations submitted to parliament by 31 January.
This is part of its response to the Bondi massacre on 14 December in which 15 people were killed, including 10-year-old Matilda Bee.
Premier Chris Minns believes that weeks and months of antisemitic public protests created a climate of hatred which exploded at the Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi on 14 December.
“Repeated hate slogans could lead a person to be full of hate, and could lead a person to take the matter a step further into violence,” said the chair of the inquiry, Labor MP Edmond Atalla. “Australia has no place for hate slogans.”
The archdiocese agrees there must be a legislative response to the shootings at Bondi, “this dark day in our nation’s history.” However, it must be studied carefully to avoid the kind of overreach that has occurred in the United Kingdom.
“Our first response to bad speech should be better speech,” says the submission. “Engaging in respectful civil discourse should be possible without the threat of arrest and prosecution.
“Legal prohibitions and sanctions are not the ideal way to address speech that incites hatred and the criminal law is only a very small part of dealing with this issue.”
In the government’s terms of reference for the inquiry, the phrase “globalise the intifada” was singled out as particularly offensive. The archdiocese argues that banning specific phrases would not be effective.
In the first place, activists could simply substitute readily understood acronyms to communicate their violent or hateful message. Second, “proscribing certain phrases as ‘inherently hateful’ ignores context, which is always important.”
“Prohibition and punishment are only two small tools in protecting against hateful speech,” says the submission. “The better way to protect against hateful rhetoric is to educate people in civil discourse and positive human behaviour.”
Suppressing opinions through the criminal law results in self-censorship without changing hearts. The submission quotes the late Pope Francis who declared in his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti that “authentic reconciliation does not flee from conflict, but is achieved in conflict, resolving it through dialogue and open, honest and patient negotiation.”
The inquiry’s terms of reference require the committee to examine how successfully the United Kingdom has dealt with hate speech.
A spate of imprecise and subjective laws there has led to an explosion in prosecutions. In the year to June 2025, there were 15,128 prosecutions and 13,013 convictions for hate crimes.
There have been some extraordinary cases.
Comedian Graham Linehan was arrested by five armed officers over three transphobic tweets.
Australian women’s soccer star Sam Kerr was dragged into court over a drunken remark made to a policeman. After calling him “stupid” and “white,” she was charged with racially aggravated harassment.
The archdiocese observes that “the UK is not a good model for NSW to follow in seeking to address the incitement of hatred and promote social harmony and cohesion.”
Solving the problem of hate speech has to be approached with great sensitivity.
“While the law has its place because it forbids certain kinds of bad behaviour and articulates community values and standards, there are prior and more effective forms of correctives,” says the archdiocese.
“These include the education provided in families and by schools, churches and other community groups, and the wider culture, and these must be a high priority in the fight against hatred or its incitement.
“The Archdiocese of Sydney is ready to assist in this respect and will redouble our efforts to combat antisemitism through education and preaching.”
