Yesterday to Bendigo, to Ravenswood, and to Harcourt, we received the devastating news of a loss of life. Our thoughts go to the family, the friends, and the community who are impacted by this. And our thoughts are also with all those who are still doing it incredibly tough. Those people who've lost their homes, 47 in Harcourt alone. These are communities that are under real pressure. In addition to that, in far north Queensland, of course, we see the impact of the floods. This is a really tough time across Australia with different impacts of these extreme weather events. And at this time I say on behalf of I think the entire Australian population, thank you to the emergency service workers, to the police and firies, to the Australian Defense Force, to the volunteers, to all those who are helping their neighbors at this time. At the worst of times, we always see the best of the Australian character. I saw that yesterday. There's a staging area at Ravenswood at a petrol station where the local SES firies are coordinating the activity going out there where the firefighting fleet including the aircraft operating from that area. And what we saw is just people helping out, often some of them from communities themselves that have been devastated in recent times by floods or by fire. The last time I was at the Bendigo Center there, it was to deal with floods in Victoria. A short time later, I'm back and it's to deal with the opposite of fires that have been devastating. So we'll continue to monitor these situations. We'll continue to be in close contact with Premier Allan, with Premier Crisafulli, who I spoke with again yesterday. And the Commonwealth will always provide whatever support we can. And the decision to have a national emergency management agency has certainly made a difference for help flowing very quickly to those communities. But we know that there will be much more to do in the future.
Today, can I say that I will write this afternoon to the Speaker of the House of Representatives for Parliament to be called recalled next Monday and Tuesday, both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The plan is to have a condolence motion debated in both houses on Monday. There's been agreement with the opposition about the wording of that condolence motion. It will be an opportunity for the Parliament to come together and convey our sympathies to the loved ones of those murdered by these terrorists on Bondi Beach on the 14th of December, to recognize the trauma and the pain of the people who've been injured, to honor the courage and quick action of police, first responders, and health care workers, and the lives that they saved, as well as everyday Australians who in the face of this savage event showed incredible bravery and didn't think of themselves but thought of others. The motion will unequivocally condemn the terrorist atrocity perpetrated at Bondi Beach and commit our parliament to eradicating the evil of anti-semitism. And I'm hopeful that it can deliver a powerful statement by all members and senators voting for the condolence motion. On the Monday there will be three speakers from each side. Firstly in the House of Representatives, and then as well Allegra Spender as the local member will be invited to speak, and then there will be a suspension of that to enable the Attorney General to introduce legislation which will then lay on the table. We'll then return to the condolence motion and that will continue throughout Monday and Tuesday. We will later today brief. I've met with the leader of the opposition already today, but there will be a briefing for the opposition on the legislation later this afternoon by the respective departments, and it will be referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence for report. It will be publicly released tomorrow, and Greens members and crossbench members will be able to access a full briefing as well from tomorrow on the legislation.
The legislation will then be debated on Tuesday in the House of Representatives. We intend to have that legislation pass the House before question time, which will occur at the normal time at 2:00, and then will be considered by the Senate in the afternoon in order to ensure its passage on that day. The bill is a Combating Anti-Semitism, Hate and Extremism Bill. It's a comprehensive package of reforms which creates serious offenses for hate preachers and leaders seeking to radicalize young Australians. It increases the penalties for hate crimes offenses. It ensures that offenders whose crimes were motivated by extremism have that factored into their sentencing. It creates a new offense for inciting hatred in order to intimidate or harass. It expands and strengthens the ban on prohibited symbols. And it makes it easier for the Minister for Home Affairs to cancel or refuse a visa for people intent on spreading hatred. And it creates a new framework that will enable the Minister for Home Affairs to list organizations as prohibited hate groups. Once an organization is listed, it will be a criminal offense to be a member, to recruit for it, to donate or receive funds, or support that group in any way. The legislation will also set up the National Guns Buyback Scheme, bringing Australia's world-leading gun laws into the 21st century and getting guns off our streets. As I've said before, there are more guns now in Australia than there were at the time of the Port Arthur massacre. That is not good enough. The terrorists at Bondi Beach had hatred in their minds but guns in their hands. This law will deal with both, and we do need to deal with both of these issues. These are complex laws, and our focus is ensuring they're effective and practical. We will continue to navigate. No doubt there will be legal processes because this is an area of constitutional question. This is new laws going further than they ever have before. But we want to support the efforts of our police and our security agencies. We want to ensure that Australia remains a society where everyone has the right to be proud of who they are. And we also want to make it clear that conduct which is hateful, dangerous, and divisive will also be illegal, because just as anti-semitism and racism are an offense against our Australian values, they should be an offense against Australian law.
This afternoon we've referred that legislation to the committee. So the processes from here is that we will engage constructively. It will be an opportunity for people to make submissions through appropriate processes. We want this to be timely, but we also want there to be a proper process, which is why we are going to have this process over the next week. And national unity is vital to our national security, and our government will strengthen both. I'd ask the Attorney General and then the Minister for Home Affairs.
Thank you, Prime Minister. And can I start by echoing the Prime Minister's comments about our fellow Australians who are doing it so tough during these challenging times with those fires. As the Prime Minister said today, the Albanese government has taken another important step towards a safer, more unified Australia with cabinet agreeing to the government's stronger, more robust hate speech legislation. The government announced our intention to introduce these laws in the days following the abhorrent Bondi terror attack, and I'm very pleased that in a relatively short period of time, we've been able to draft, consult, and develop this vital package of legislation. Let me be clear. Once these laws are passed, they will be the toughest hate laws Australia has ever seen. They will specifically target those who seek to spread hatred and disrupt social cohesion in our community. And it will send a clear message that this conduct will not be tolerated. In particular, as the Prime Minister outlined, the bill introduces an aggravated hate speech offense for preachers and leaders who promote or threaten violence against protected groups or members of groups. There will be increases in penalties for hate speech offenses relating to advocating or threatening force or violence against protected groups or members of groups and their property. It will make racial hatred an aggravating factor in sentencing in a number of Commonwealth crimes. It will create a regime for listing organizations whose leaders engage in hate speech or promote violence or racial hatred. And it also introduces a new racial vilification offense that criminalizes inciting hatred based on the grounds of race. Now these laws build on the hate speech legislation the government introduced last year and the hate symbols legislation that came before that. This government has moved with urgency and care to draft these laws, consulting with experts and stakeholders including the Jewish community. The draft legislation, as the Prime Minister said, will now be referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, and the public will be able to make submissions. As I've said, this is not a time for partisanship. Broad support right across the parliament is essential to making these laws a reality and keeping Australians safe. Minister.
Thanks Prime Minister, and joined for my responsibility with Nemer as well in the huge concerns with everybody battling those fires. Following the atrocity of the evil anti-semitic terrorist attack in Bondi, we needed to deal with the motivation and the method. This legislation will deal with both. The motivation was fueled with hate, that form of racism known as anti-semitism. There have been organizations which have played a game for a long time in keeping themselves just below the legal threshold. They were called out last year by Mike Burgess, the Director-General of ASIO, for the real harm that they do to our national security. The two groups that he called out specifically were the Nazis, the National Socialist Network, and Hizb ut-Tahrir. Two groups which through their spreading of hate have a direct impact on increased risk in our national security environment but have kept themselves just below the law. For while they have created a pathway for others to engage in violence, have been careful to not explicitly call for it themselves, they've kept themselves just below that threshold. This bill will lower that threshold, and lower that threshold to the extent that we can within the constitution. We have had enough of organizations that hate Australia playing games with Australian law. We will also increase powers that I would have as immigration minister in terms of the cancelling of visas. In terms of racist bigotry, at the moment I also have to test each time whether someone's coming on a public speaking tour or the extent to which someone might cause social discord. This draws a line in the sand and says racial bigotry of itself is a reason to be able to refuse a visa. Finally, with respect to guns, the legislation will allow us to use the OSC check system, the OTC system, to effectively create a pathway where states and territories can have a two hurdle process before someone is issued with a gun license. The final hurdle remaining the fit and proper person test that the states already have, but to be able to put in place in advance of that an OSC check system which will allow the intelligence that is held by ASIO and by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission to be able to create the extra layer of caution if somebody is themselves a risk when they're applying or if the risk resides in a member of their family or a member of their household. With all of this, we deal with the motivation and the method. We deal with the why and the how.
