Following the fallout from those conservative senators who did not vote against the government’s Hate Crime Bill last week, I questioned Senator Matt Canavan about his support for the bill. In drafting legislation, there is always a trade-off for politicians between the process of enabling legislation and the optics of voting for legislation that might not be popular to one’s base.
Canavan has been an advocate for Australia’s traditional resources and energy sector. I heard him speak at CPAC 2024 in Brisbane last year and he is usually not backward in coming forward about issues that are dear to conservatives. I was curious to know his reasons for supporting the Hate Crime Bill.
Here’s how Senator Canavan responded to my questions.
Michael de Percy: ‘The use of the Hamas triangle on Parliament House, the October 9 events at the Sydney Opera House, Australia Day statue vandalism and so on, all of these activities are already criminalised, but the laws are not being enforced. How will the Hate Crime Amendment make a difference? What role does leadership play in enforcing the existing laws?’
Senator Canavan: ‘There is a view that the slogans chanted at the Opera House may not have been successfully prosecuted under existing laws. In hindsight, if we had a stronger response to that initial outburst of antisemitic and violent rhetoric we may have avoided some of the worst outbursts of communal violence that has occurred since.
‘It should be a crime to incite violence. And, it is hard to fathom how you could do so in “good faith”, which is a defence available to someone charged with incitement to violence. Removing this barrier to prosecuting incitement to violent crimes is a reasonable change.
‘I am not a libertarian. We must maintain an orderly and harmonious society. People threatening or inciting violence should be charged.’
Michael de Percy: ‘Logistically, what will the authorities do if hundreds of people wave Hezbollah flags, will they all be arrested for hate crimes and serve mandatory sentences and where will the authorities imprison them? This is not a hypothetical, there have already been incidences where the new law would apply en masse.’
Senator Canavan: ‘The law has operated for a while now without huge issues. What changed last year was that some additional terrorist organisations were blacklisted, and their flags have disappeared from the protests which is a good thing.
‘There has been no need for mass arrests.’
Michael de Percy: ‘Your amendment to include “physical force” and “physical violence” failed to get up, and given the focus on antisemitism was watered down to include “race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, disability, nationality, national or ethnic origin, or political opinion”, how confident can citizens be that the new law won’t be weaponised and used against them by left-wing activists?’
Senator Canavan: ‘I moved an amendment that would have defined the terms “force” and “violence” as meaning “physical force” and “physical violence”. This amendment unfortunately did not pass. However, the Minister did specify that the laws “would only extend to physical force or violence against a person or group”. The Minister’s statement in these debates can be used to help interpret the law in courts.
‘These issues are always a balance of risks. I think the risk of somebody being prosecuted for political speech under these laws is very low. It is not non-existent, and people are right to raise these concerns even if we also must put things in perspective.
‘These incitement to violence laws are nothing like the hate speech laws in the UK or what is proposed in NSW. They [the UK and NSW laws] are egregious restrictions on free speech, and we should focus our efforts into defeating these.
‘If we maintain a strict, ascetic libertarian approach on these matters we will lose all the battles. I love libertarians but they do have a habit of losing a lot.’
Michael de Percy: ‘Many of your followers and fans on social media were not happy about your vote in the Senate to support the Hate Crimes Bill. What would you say to your followers to allay their fears that you have not given up on them?’
Senator Canavan: ‘I have a strong record fighting on free speech matters.
‘I was part of a team that not only defeated the misinformation laws but convinced every crossbencher to vote against them. It was a humiliating defeat for the globalist authoritarians. And, I thank everyone who helped bring that fantastic outcome out.
‘At the same time, I never try to please everybody all the time. I approach my job as a heavy-duty where I should weigh up what I think is best for the country regardless of the pressure I get from people, even people who I do like.
‘I love the online free speech community, but we need to resist the urge to cast out anyone who does not share exactly the same views on every issue. Ironically that would make us to be just as censorious as the globalists and we would end up as a divided group with no hope of winning the important battles.’
Given the video that emerged this week of two healthcare workers in Bankstown who allegedly threatened the lives of ‘Israeli’ patients (a view which was supported by some in the community), there is clearly some division between the libertarian and conservative views on hate crime laws. At the same time, the ‘optics’ of Australian authorities who appear to be weak on hate crimes is not helping the deteriorating situation in our communities. The escalation of antisemitism is clearly Australia’s biggest national security threat. Whether hate crime can be better addressed when the government’s legislative word salad becomes law, however, remains to be seen.
Dr Michael de Percy @FlaneurPolitiq is a political scientist and political commentator. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILTA), and a Member of the Royal Society of NSW. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, Chairman of the ACT and Southern NSW Chapter of CILTA, and a member of the Australian Nuclear Association. Michael is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon and was appointed to the College of Experts at the Australian Research Council in 2022. All opinions in this article are the author’s own and are not intended to reflect the views of any other person or organisation.