Australian parliament passes stricter gun control, hate crime laws

Canberra, Jan 20 (IANS) Australian Parliament on Tuesday passed tougher gun control and hate crime laws in response to last month's Bondi Beach shooting during a Jewish festival.

The gun control laws, which establish a national firearm buyback scheme and tighten import controls, passed both houses with support from the Greens party.

The legislation will also strengthen background checks for gun license holders and applicants, improve information sharing between security agencies, restrict gun imports to Australian citizens only, and impose tighter limits on the types of firearms that can be imported, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged decisive action on strengthening gun laws after 15 people were fatally shot in a terrorist attack that targeted a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach on December 14. Authorities said in the wake of the attack that one of the two gunmen had a firearms license and legally owned six guns.

The hate crime laws will grant powers to designate organizations as "hate groups," allow a minister to cancel or refuse visas for individuals who spread hateful or extremist views, and create stronger offenses for advocating violence or preaching hate to children.

Australian neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network disbanded last week in response to the new hate speech laws.

On Monday, Australia's federal parliament has paid tribute to the victims of the Bondi Beach shooting after being reconvened to debate new laws proposed in response to the terror attack.

The federal parliament on Monday morning observed a minute of silence as a motion was tabled to honour the 15 victims of the attack that targeted an event celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at the iconic beach in Sydney's eastern suburbs on December 14.

Addressing the parliament, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that Monday should have been just "another day" for the victims, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Instead, our parliament comes together in sorrow to offer our nation's condolences to the people who knew and loved them best," he said. Josh Burns, one of the most prominent Jewish members of Albanese's Labor Party government, said that Australia's response to the attack would define the country.

"We must not dehumanise each other, because dehumanisation is what leads to exactly what happened in Bondi," he said.

--IANS

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