EDITORIAL: Anthony Albanese is the one ‘playing politics’ with the Bondi tragedy
Anthony Albanese, who ducked and weaved for weeks as he tried to squirm away from the responsibility of calling a royal commission into the massacre at Bondi is now accusing others of “playing politics” with the tragedy which left 15 people dead and shattered the nation’s heart.
The Prime Minister appeared exasperated as he fumed at the Coalition for its opposition to his hate speech laws, which Parliament willbe recalled to debate next week.
“The parties of government should be supporting this across the board, and we’ve said that if you have ideas for changes, please put them forward now. The Coalition is yet to put forward a single proposed change,” he said.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“I have said consistently this should be a moment of national unity. After Port Arthur, after the Lindt Cafe siege, after the Bali Bombing, after all of these tragic national events which had an impact on our nation, what we didn’t have was a politicisation and that is what I have not engaged in.”
Is this bloke for real?
Is Sussan Ley playing politics by threatening to block the legislation, which she described this week as “unsalvageable”? Undoubtedly.
Just as Labor was playing politics with its attempt to wedge the Coalition into supporting the omnibus Bill, which combines new laws outlawing hate speech with tougher restrictions on gun ownership. Just as Labor has been playing politics every day of the five weeks since the December 14 atrocity.
The Coalition is not alone in holding reservations about the scale and scope of the Government’s hate speech reforms.
Those who have urged the Government to put the brakes on the new laws include the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher, Anglican Archbishop Kanishka Raffel, Anglican South Sydney Bishop Michael Stead and Australian National Imams Council president Shadi Alsuleiman, who were among a group of faith leaders to sign their names to a letter to the Prime Minister on Friday.
“It would be inconsistent with the Prime Minister’s pre-election promise to faith leaders that legal protections for people of faith will not go backwards under Labor as well as his commitment to progress religious protections in a bipartisan manner with the Coalition,” the letter read.
The Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council has called for a “short delay” to the Bill, and for it to be split to deal with the hate speech and firearms provisions separately.
Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay has warned that the current vague wording of the Bill risks unintended consequences and could infringe on Australians’ freedom of expression and freedom of religion.
If others are now “playing politics” with the response to the Bondi tragedy, they are able to do so because Mr Albanese first set the tone.
It was he who played politics by refusing to take responsibility for his part in the spread of anti-Semitism, by playing tricky word games, by rebuffing pleas for a royal commission, and now by seeking to steamroll this flawed legislation through Parliament.
