The NSW premier says his government is looking to tighten laws against religiously and racially-motivated hate speech and threats of violence.
It comes amid a rise in religious hate speech due to the ongoing conflict in Palestine and Israel.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the Jewish Board of Deputies and other religious groups have lobbied the state about the laws which they have described as “ineffective and impotent.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns says criminal laws introduced five years ago are yet to result in a prosecution.
“There’s no point in having these rules and regulations and laws on the books if in the end they’re not applied,” he told ABC Radio.
“I don’t think anyone with a straight face … could make the claim that we’ve solved or there isn’t racism or racial vilification in NSW.
“With a state as big as ours, there are going to be ratbags and bad-faith actors and if they go too far they need to be charged.”
