The Albanese government will separate laws targeting gun control from its proposed hate speech reforms after the omnibus bill failed to secure the support of the Coalition and the Greens.
In response to the Bondi terror attack Labor drafted new legislation to crack down on hate speech, including the creation of a new federal offence that would make it illegal to publicly promote or incite racial hatred.
The wide-ranging bill also included a national gun buyback scheme and stricter firearm controls.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Saturday that the two elements would be separated and the racial vilification provisions would be dropped to speed up parliamentary approval.
“The gun laws will be separate and then the laws on hate crimes and migration will proceed. But we will not be proceeding with the racial vilification provisions because it’s clear that that will not have support,” he told reporters at Parliament House.
“We will only proceed with measures that have the support of the parliament and are likely to receive that.”
It comes hours after the Greens refused support for the proposed hate speech laws but said it would support legislation targeting gun control.
Religious teaching may be defence under new hate laws
The government needed to work with either the Greens or the Coalition to ensure the legislation could pass through the Senate, but a deal with the Coalition appeared unlikely after Opposition leader Sussan Ley labelled the proposed laws “unsalvageable”.
On Thursday, the Greens had said they would not support the government’s sweeping changes without significant amendments, but it appeared a deal could still be reached.
Greens leader Larissa Waters said the omnibus bill needed a “huge amount of work”.
“This is complex legislation, with a lot of massive pitfalls and omissions, and the process to fix it can’t be rushed,” she said.
“We are willing to sit down with the government to find a way forward, but it’s clear that the amount of negotiations and legal analysis required to produce a good outcome can’t be done in the extremely tight timeframe the government has created.
“It may be simpler to start afresh with a bill that aims to protect everyone from hatred and discrimination.”
Larissa Waters says the government’s hate crime reforms have “massive pitfalls and omissions”.
 (AAP: Mick Tsikas)
The government had initially been criticised, particularly by the opposition, for being too slow to recall parliament following the Bondi terror attack.
Parliament is now scheduled to debate the bills on Tuesday.
Labor needs the support of either the Green or the Coalition to pass the legislation in the upper house where it does not hold a majority.
Path forward unclear
Earlier on Saturday the Greens had said they would support the federal government’s proposed reforms to gun laws.
Senator David Shoebridge said the Greens’ latest move was due to growing concerns from legal experts, faith groups and the community about the legislation put forward.
“Every stakeholder meeting we’ve had raises fresh concerns about civil liberties, the right to free speech and the potential overreach of the government’s legislation,” he said.
“When the government brings legislation into the parliament that protects only one religion, that is designed to put critics in jail, and that has not been consulted with the broader community, there is only one word to describe that, and that is divisive.”
Senator Shoebridge confirmed the Greens would not seek amendments to the current legislation.
“The legislation that deals with hate, migration, vilification, the listing of groups, the prescription of groups, that is not supportable, we will not be supporting it and we’re not looking to amend it because it’s not supportable,” he said.