The Australian Parliament passed stricter gun control and hate crime laws on the 20th.
Core measures of the gun control law include establishing a national gun buyback program, tightening the categories of imported guns, tightening eligibility for purchasers, expanding background checks, and establishing an inter-departmental information-sharing mechanism.
The hate crime law increases penalties for hate crimes, granting the government the power to designate “hate groups,” authorizing the Minister for Home Affairs to cancel or refuse visas to foreign nationals who spread extreme hate speech, and imposing harsher penalties for inciting violence and promoting hatred to children.
Last December, a shooting in Bondi Beach, Sydney, left 16 people dead, including one suspect. Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on the 20th that the Bondi Beach shooter was “filled with hatred and had a gun in his hand,” and the government must address the issue from both the “awareness” and the “tools” of the attack.