Australia’s parliament has approved sweeping gun law reforms and new hate speech measures following last month’s Bondi Beach attack, in which 15 people were killed at a Jewish festival.
Passed during a special sitting recalled two weeks early, the legislation introduces a national gun buyback scheme, tighter firearm licence checks, stricter import controls and improved intelligence sharing, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke saying the attackers would not have legally accessed guns under the new rules.
The reforms aim to reduce the country’s four million registered firearms and mark the most significant changes to gun laws since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
A separate, revised hate speech bill—backed by Labor and the Liberals but opposed by the Greens—will ban organisations deemed to promote hate, impose tougher penalties on those advocating violence, and be reviewed biennially, amid ongoing debate over free speech and community safety.