The antisemitism inquiry interim report finds Australia already has extensive terrorism laws, while urging governments to move faster on long-delayed national gun reform.

Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell’s antisemitism inquiry interim report says many things, but a couple of findings and recommendations are particularly welcome. The interim report says that there is not a need for politicians to rush off and pass even more anti-terrorism and security laws. And gun law reform must be implemented sooner, rather than later.

In her interim report Commissioner Bell sets out in some detail the range of legislative tools at the disposal of Commonwealth and state agencies in the terrorism and hate speech space. Even a cursory reading of the chapter on this issue in the 160-page report tells you how, since 9/11, politicians and governments have never stopped filling the pages of statute books with laws that give enormous powers to law enforcement and surveillance agencies.

As the report observes: “Australia’s Federal counter-terrorism laws were substantially overhauled following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States of America.”

Then the report lists some of the measures enacted over the past 25 years. There have been........

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