Australia's newly passed legislative package expands federal powers and will likely generate sustained legal and federal-state friction, deepen opposition fragmentation and entrench security policy as a persistent political fault line that could reshape governance priorities. On Jan. 20, Australia's federal parliament passed a legislative package combining tougher firearms measures with new criminal, migration and designation powers aimed at countering antisemitism, hate and violent extremism. Core measures include a nationally coordinated gun buyback, tighter restrictions on firearms access and imports, new federal hate and criminal offenses (including racial vilification provisions), stronger penalties for certain "hate preaching" conduct, new mechanisms to designate hate or extremist organizations and expanded authority to refuse or cancel visas on extremism grounds. In the immediate aftermath of passage, political fallout escalated within the conservative opposition, the Liberal-National Coalition (LNC). Three senators from the National Party (one of the LNC's two constituent parties) voted against the hate speech...
