Overview
- Parliament reconvened two weeks early for condolence speeches and a minute’s silence, with the prime minister reading the names of the 15 people killed in the December Bondi attack.
- The Liberal Party room approved a deal late Monday to pass Labor’s fallback hate-crime and migration measures on Tuesday, with provisions to list prohibited hate groups and strengthen visa refusal and cancellation powers.
- Negotiated changes include tighter targeting to groups seeking to incite violence, mandatory two-year reviews by the security committee, stronger aggravated offences to capture extremist preachers, and consultation with the opposition leader on listings.
- Gun reforms will proceed in a separate bill expected to pass with Greens support, enabling a national buyback and tighter licensing checks, while the Coalition—especially the Nationals—plans to vote against the firearms package.
- After splitting the original omnibus bill and dropping the racial vilification offence, the prime minister issued a “tomorrow or nothing” ultimatum on the hate measures as polls showed his ratings falling; a National Day of Mourning is set for 22 January with a 7:01pm nationwide silence and “15 Pillars of Light” commemorations.