What Australia's new hate laws mean for NZ's free speech debate

Australia’s Parliament has been called back two weeks early to push through new gun and hate speech legislation in the wake of the Bondi Attack.

The recommendations are reminiscent of those made by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the March 15 terror attack in Christchurch.

Since 2021, successive governments have begun, paused, then stopped all policy and legislative work on hate speech.

So, where do our hate speech laws sit today? Are they good enough? Or should we follow Australia’s lead and finally tackle this issue once and for all?

Today on The Front Page,  Race Relations Commissioner Dr Melissa Derby is with us to talk about how to tackle this growing issue.

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You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

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