Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024

Mr BURNELL (Spence) (18:24): On 26 January, Australia Day, I think everyone in this room would have been out and about in their communities, celebrating a day when all parts of our community come together to celebrate the Australian story and, more importantly, the Australian way. It's a story that's painted through a tapestry of rich multiculturalism and diversity, the coming together of a group of people to create one story.

I was lucky enough to be able to be in Gawler to help swear in a new raft of Australian citizens, and the joy on their faces to finally be able to say that they're Australian—there was nothing that was going to upset their day. That was replicated right across my electorate, in Playford and the City of Salisbury, and beyond my boundaries as well, in South Australia and across the country.

It's a really important point to make because, at the same time we were all coming together to celebrate who we are as Australians, we had a group of people that were trying to drive a wedge of division between our communities, a group who have tried to prey on individuals who are susceptible to impressionism. When I think about this group—and there are not a lot of things that I have to say about them that are nice—they prey on young individuals within our communities who are disenfranchised, hoping they can create a sense of faux outrage and turn that into a tool to assist in their desire to drive a wedge between communities like mine.

I'm talking about the National Socialist Network. On Australia Day, they used that day of all days to march down North Terrace in Adelaide chanting, 'Australia for the white man!' wearing their black clothing and carrying on in front of our war memorial, displaying their symbols of hatred, trying to strike fear and division in my community and the community of South Australia, which is really disappointing.

It's disappointing for a couple of reasons. When I got elected to this place in May 2022, I did so on the basis that I saw myself as a leader in my community. I was very privileged to have the opportunity to get the confidence of my community to represent them in this place.

It makes me think about what good leadership is about, and, since my election to this place, I have had the good opportunity to be part of the Defence Force parliamentary program. I had the opportunity to go on HMAS Rankin. It's pertinent when I think about this bill and what this bill does because the motto of that vessel is 'defend the weak'.

When you look up the definition of 'defend' in the dictionary it says it's 'to resist an attack made on someone or something, to protect from harm or danger'. The definition of 'weak' is 'liable to break or give way under pressure'. Defend the weak—that's what good leaders do and that's what this bill does.

This bill, the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2025, enables leadership to stamp out hate and hate crimes. It's about making sure that those who have ill will towards others in our community are held to the highest standards of our laws, as they should be. If you want to urge violence and encourage others to engage in your activities, there will be repercussions.

That's exactly what needs to happen. It's not good enough to have people sitting on YouTube or at kickboxing events in the northern suburbs, walking down the main street letterboxing and doorknocking in my electorate, and inciting hatred to persecute your desire to have a white society and drive out the best thing that makes my community so fantastic—that is, the multicultural aspect.

It's the bringing together of different cultures harmoniously and creating a society that is interconnected and so much better for it because we get to share everybody's experiences. We shouldn't have to live in fear. We shouldn't have to worry about elements of our community applying pressure and trying to break the weak.

That's why it's up to leaders like myself and others in this chamber today to ensure that we do defend the weak and that we stand up and call out the actions of those like the National Socialist Network, an extremist group that is trying to drive fear into the very hearts of our communities and trying to create an us-versus-them mentality that looks to ostracise anybody that they can for the purposes of their own gain.

I'm extremely proud of this legislation. I think that the minister has done a great job in bringing this forward. It's much needed, unfortunately.

It shouldn't be needed. Much like the member for Higgins said, when I came to this place, the last thing I thought that we would be debating is this type of legislation because I just didn't think that we were at this point in our communities. I thought we were well past this.

This is a thing of yesteryear. I thought we'd learnt from our mistakes, but, clearly, that's not the case. We need to do better.

We must do better, and that's what this bill seeks to do.