[The Socialist Alliance National Executive adopted the following statement on January 16.].

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Socialist Alliance opposes the Anthony Albanese government’s Combating Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026.

The proposed law’s main changes are to criminal law, making a new offence for inciting racial (including ethnic and national) hatred and setting up a scheme for outlawing “hate groups”.

It is an assault on democratic rights and provides the Australian state with more means to police and imprison oppressed groups, starting with those who face racism.

The bill’s immediate target is the Palestine solidarity movement. Federal and state leaderships, including Labor, Teal, Coalition and One Nation MPs, have falsely equated criticisms of the state of Israel for its genocide and occupation of Palestine with antisemitism.

Australia is a settler-colonial society. Its institutions reek of racism, as the Adelaide Writers Week Board’s cancellation of Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah shows.

The........

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