Australian news and politics live: Coalition splits over Labor’s hate speech as gun reform laws passed

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has said in order to effectively respond to anti-Semitism in Australia all parties must present a united front.

Referring to the American Jewish Committee during Question Time, Mr Marles said anti-Semitism must not be a partisan issue, and the politicisation of it must be condemned.

“It takes all of us,” he said.

“We are only going to rid the scourge of anti-Semitism in this country if we all rise above our parties and do it together.”

The first Question Time in the wake of Australia’s worst terror attack is underway after a delay, with Opposition leader Sussan Ley kicking off the session.

Ms Ley has used the first question to ask if Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will apologise to the loved ones of victims for delaying his decision to call a Royal Commission into the massacre. She also accused him of not having the capacity to admit his mistakes.

The PM claimed he had “engaged respectfully” and in an adequate time which allowed for a measured response with adequate consultation.

“I have said, I am sorry that this occurred, sorry for the grief and pain the Jewish community in our entire nation have experienced,” Mr Albanese said.

“Our responsibility is to (put) grief, pain and anger into meaningful action,” he said. He used the opportunity to criticise the Opposition for watering down the suite of laws Labor brought forward, saying it went against the recommendations laid out by special envoy to combat anti-Semitism Jillian Segal.”

National Party MPs abstained from voting on the Government’s contentious hate speech laws as the legislation passed Parliament’s lower house on Tuesday.

Leader David Littleproud said the Nationals party room has been meeting to discuss amendments which “provide greater certainty around unintended consequences of the hate group legislation reforms”.

“Unfortunately, there is not enough time before the vote in the House of Representatives to get this certainty,” he said in a statement.

The junior Coalition party will put forward amendments to “fix these issues” when the Bill is introduced to the Senate this evening.

Greens leader Larissa Waters says she’s “proud” of her team after widespread criticism of language used in the party’s condolence motions on Monday.

The Greens accused the major parties of politicising the Bondi massacre — only to use their condolence speeches on Australia’s worst-ever terrorist attack to criticise Israel.

Asked on Tuesday if she felt her party had struck the right tone, Senator Waters insisted they had, including deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi who had accused the Federal Government of wanting to silence critics of Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, using the word “genocide”.

“I’m very proud of the strong hearts of our team, and I think some of the commentary in the Murdoch press, who are simply trying to sell their newspapers, was inaccurate at best and inflammatory at worst,” she said.

“Senator Mehreen Faruqi is such a champion for human rights and for peaceful protest, and I think the words that she said were very appropriately conveyed.”

The Young Nationals have declared their opposition to the combating anti-Semitism, hate and extremism bill.

“The Labor Government is trying to consolidate power over the truth and outlaw dissent through its draconian hate speech laws, as well as crushing law-abiding gun owners ​​through its firearm laws,” the branch said in a statement.

“The Young Nationals will never support Labor’s war on free speech and responsible gun ownership.”

Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil says the Albanese Government is hoping the United States will reach a negotiated settlement with Denmark over its push to take over Greenland.

President Donald Trump is threatening to hit European nations with a slew of new tariffs if they do not strike a deal to hand over the strategic self-governing arctic territory to the US.

Asked whether the situation represented a threat to NATO, Mr Khalil said it was an issue that Denmark and the United States needed to manage while respecting the wishes of Greenland’s population.

“I get a lot of my knowledge around Greenland from the Danish political drama Borgen, which uncannily, is kind of almost, you know, art imitating life, or life is now imitating art in some respects,” the Assistant Minister told Sky News.

“I hope that there can be some sort of negotiated settlement that this doesn’t get out of hand. And the Australian government has always been very clear about upholding international law and international norms”.

Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns has accused the Liberal party of being hypocrites after forcing Anthony Albanese to water-down the hate speech laws in response to the Bondi Beach attack.

Mr Burns told the House on Tuesday it was a “shame” that the proposed laws were “not the full set of bills that should have passed this parliament today”.

“It is just an absolute shame that we came here today, and the full suite of laws aren’t what they should be,” he said.

“Because the Liberal Party refused to support the very things that they said they did. But these bills, as they stand, have a significant impact.”

He added that while the Liberal party claimed to support the full adoption of Special Envoy to Combat anti-Semitism Jillian Segal’s report, their approach went against one of the key recommendations.

Mr Burns read recommendation 3.2 to the House which related to federal laws targeting anti-Semitism, “including with respect to serious vilification offenses and the public promotion of hatred”.

“You cannot claim to support the special envoy and then refuse to support the very recommendation that a special envoy put forward in her report,” he added.

The Albanese Government has agreed to establish a National Firearms Safety Council as part of its negotiations with The Greens to pass the reforms during a special summer sitting of Parliament.

Teal MP Sophie Scamps had called for the council in an amendment she put to the House as the gun reforms were debated on Tuesday.

She suggested the council would be evidence-based and independent from the influence of “powerful vested interests and cashed-up gun lobby groups in Australia”.

Ms Scamps suggested the council could collate data on licensing numbers and types, approvals and refusals and emerging trends and “report to parliament annually to ensure transparency and accountability”.

Tony Burke stood up after her address to reveal that while the Government wouldn’t back her amendment, it had already set the wheels in motion for establishing a council.

“While the Government doesn’t support the amendment, and the form of doing this, we are in support of establishing the National Firearms Safety Council,” The Home Affairs Minister said.

“A similar conversation has been happening with The Greens and the Senate as we’ve been dealing with these issues over recent days.

“Earlier today, I put in writing to (Greens leader) and Senator (Larissa) Waters that we will be establishing a National Firearm Safety Council.”

Tony Burke said while he “agreed completely” with Zail Steggall’s concerns about domestic violence offenders having access to weapons, he claimed it wasn’t something the Federal legislation in response to the Bondi attack would address.

“It’s exactly right that these issues should be taken into account in the issuing of a firearms license,” the Home Affairs Minister said.

“But they have to be taken into account at the state level.

“The states are the holders of information on family and domestic violence.

“The states are the holders of the information on AVOs (Apprehended Violence Order).

“While I agree completely that this issue must be taken into account, it’s not something we can do in the federal part of the process.”

Anthony Albanese has sought to highlight the limits on Commonwealth jurisdiction over gun regulation compared with states and territories.

It came in response to suggested amendments in the House, including by independent teal MP Zail Steggall, who called for protections from domestic violence perpetrators holding guns.

The Prime Minister said state-level processes, which hold information on family and domestic violence, would still need to be addressed separately by jurisdictions.

“It is important to comprehend that state governments control the issue of licenses,” the PM said.

“State governments control categories. This legislation does not appear to interfere with those arrangements. What the federal government controls is the importation of weapons.

“This is sensible reform, including stopping non-citizens importing weapons.”