Parliament to be recalled for national security legislation

Federal Parliament will be recalled to deal with important national security legislation in the wake of the Bondi terrorist attack.

The Prime Minister will write to the Speaker asking for the House of Representatives to sit on Monday 19 January and Tuesday 20 January. Senator Wong as Leader of the Government in the Senate will be writing in similar terms to the President.

The first order of business will be a condolence motion to remember those who lost their lives and those whose lives were forever changed by this antisemitic terrorist attack.

Agreement has been reached with the Opposition on the wording of the condolence motion.

Parliament will then deal with legislation the Government began drafting in the immediate aftermath of the attack. It will be introduced to the House on Monday and debated on Tuesday before being transmitted to the Senate.

The Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 is a comprehensive package of reforms that:

• Creates serious offences for hate preachers and leaders seeking to radicalise children
• Increases the penalties for hate crimes offences
• Ensures that offenders whose crimes were motivated by extremism have that factored into their sentencing
• Creates a new offence for inciting hatred in order to intimidate or harass
• Expands and strengthens the ban on prohibited symbols
• Makes it easier for the Minister for Home Affairs to cancel or refuse a visa for people who want to come here and spread hatred
• Creates a new framework that will enable the Minister for Home Affairs to list organisations as 'Prohibited Hate Groups'. Once an organisation is listed - it will be a criminal offence to be a member, recruit for it, donate or receive funds or support that group in any way.
• Set up the National Gun Buyback Scheme to get guns off our streets.

The terrorists at Bondi Beach had hatred in their minds - and lethal weapons in their hands. These reforms deal with both.

The Bill will be referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for a sharp and focused inquiry.

We want these laws to have the broadest possible backing, demonstrating that our Parliament and our nation are united in our determination to combat hatred and eradicate the evil of antisemitism and extremism.

National unity is vital to our national security - and our Government will continue to strengthen both.

Every day since the devastating antisemitic terrorist atrocity at Bondi Beach, the Albanese Government has been focused on strengthening our national security and our national unity.

Already we have:

• Taken further action in response to the recommendations from our Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal
• Brought the National Cabinet together to fast track tougher gun laws nationwide
• Delivered new resources to our law enforcement agencies to help prevent further attacks
• Established the Richardson Review - to quickly identify any gaps in the work of the national security bodies
• Established the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, led by Former High Court Justice the Honourable Virginia Bell AC

Getting this legislation passed is the next step to protecting our national security and our national unity.