Queensland Labor is seriously considering opposing the criminalisation of phrases “from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada” in the state government’s hate speech laws as a grassroots group within the party launches a push to reject the legislation.
The opposition was yet to reach a formal agreement on Friday night but various party MPs, who spoke to this masthead anonymously to speak freely on internal processes, raised concerns about the proposed law’s effect on free speech.
The party is eager to support a legislative response to the antisemitic terror attack at Bondi Beach, but multiple sources inside the party room say the inclusion of the two phrases is a political attempt from the Crisafulli government to wedge its parliamentary rival.
They say the LNP is attempting to trigger internal Labor division if they support the laws by outraging the party’s Left faction, or risk being hounded on soft on antisemitism and community safety attacks.
A number of sources also speculated the hate speech component of the laws, which would be the nation’s toughest if passed, serves as a distraction from the government’s refusal to include mandatory mental health checks in its suite of gun reforms.
The ongoing internal discussion comes as the Queensland Labor Friends of Palestine arm called on Steven Miles’ opposition to take a stand against the proposed hate speech laws which have been criticised by a prominent civil libertarian.
Flagged after the December attack in which 15 people were killed at a Jewish Hanukkah event in Sydney, Attorney-General Deb Frecklington introduced the suite of laws this week.
The omnibus bill will include proposed gun law reforms as well as an extension of banned hate symbols and boosting penalties for criminal offences related to places of worship.
But the bill will also go further than any other jurisdiction, banning common pro-Palestine protest chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, along with “globalise the intifada”.
This will work by enabling the ban to apply to any phrases, spoken or written, decided by the Attorney-General of the day. The laws will then extend warrantless police stop and search powers to anyone suspected of committing the offence.
Submissions to committee scrutiny of the bill opened on Wednesday and will close at 10am Tuesday, with a public hearing set for Thursday and a report due before parliament resumes on March 3.
“They’re trying to wedge us on it,” a senior Labor MP told this masthead, adding that the party is less likely to succumb to the internal ructions that emerged when the LNP’s youth justice laws went through parliament.
“People can see it for what it is, from our side, as an obvious wedge, so we’re not at each other’s throats like we were a bit for the first ‘adult crime, adult time’ stuff.
“If we start going into adding phrases and different language, it’s a bit silly and I think they’ve overestimated how much community appetite there is for further crackdowns on free speech.”
The “river to the sea” phrase is highly contested by supporters of the Palestinian cause, who argue it is a call for freedom from oppression, illegal occupation and alleged genocide by Israel.
Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president, appearing alongside Crisafulli while announcing the planned laws on Sunday, argued it meant “to slaughter Jews from the river to the sea”.
Jewish Council of Australia executive officer Dr Max Kaiser, in a submission to the NSW parliament’s consideration of a ban on phrases like “globalise the intifada”, opposed banning either slogan.
Labor Friends of Palestine described banning phrases used by peaceful protesters as a “direct attack on Queenslanders’ fundamental rights to freedom of speech”.
“We condemn disgraceful comments from the premier and attorney-general that seek to falsely associate those who campaign against genocide with the terrorist attack in Bondi,” they said.
“Many thousands of Queenslanders, including Labor members and voters, have chanted ‘from the river to the sea’ at peaceful protests since 2023.”
They pointed to motions calling for Australia to apply comprehensive sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel passed by November’s state Labor conference, and branches across the state.
“The premier now threatens Labor members, and all those who stand for the rights of the Palestinian people, with two years’ jail,” the statement continued.
“We call on the Labor opposition, and the labour movement, to stand against this serious attack on democratic rights which will open the door to further repressive measures targeting Queenslanders.”
The group said Queensland should instead support a national review of the Racial Discrimination Act to deliver one legislative instrument covering all aspects of racial discrimination and vilification.
“This is the path to protecting all the human rights of Australians equally and building genuine social cohesion in our great multicultural society,” the group said.
The proposed slogan ban has also been criticised by the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, with vice president Terry O’Gorman saying that banning any public protest slogan “not contain[ing] an immediate incitement to violence is an unjustified attack and limitation on freedom of speech”.
This was particularly the case when phrases had “ambiguous meanings dependent on the political viewpoint of the recipient”, O’Gorman said in a statement on Monday.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
James Hall is the News Director at the Brisbane Times. He is the former Queensland correspondent at The Australian Financial Review and has reported for a range of mastheads across the country, specialising on political and finance reporting.Connect via X or email.
Matt Dennien is a reporter at Brisbane Times covering state politics and the public service. He has previously worked for newspapers in Tasmania and Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ. Contact him securely on Signal @mattdennien.15Connect via email.
