The attack on Bondi Beach was, without a doubt, the result of a series of failures by the Australian government, up to and including their allowance of antisemitism to fester unchecked throughout the country.
But after the attack, which was related to ISIS, the country is focusing not just on gun control.
Oh, that was part of the initial push. It's a big part of the plan going forward, because it couldn't be about anything other than guns. That's the failing of the progressive ideology that festers in so much of the Western world. It's never because of collectivist ideas, of which antisemitism is just one of many perverse ideas.
No, it has to be the guns.
But Australia isn't content to stop at just gun control.
In the wake of the mass shooting attack at Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a national gun buyback program and proposed new hate speech laws.
While the legislation has not yet been drafted, it is already causing controversy as fears that the laws could be wielded as political weapons emerge. Critics have also said that neither the gun buyback nor the hate speech laws are addressing the root of what led to the terror attack.
"Well, it's a bit hard for them to actually strengthen the laws. It's not clear what they're proposing to do," Dr. Reuben Kirkham, one of the directors of the Free Speech Union of Australia, told Fox News Digital. "What they're probably going to try and do is widen it to include a bunch of things that are not to do with hate speech, necessarily."
Albanese told reporters on Friday that the government was working to "get the laws right" and acknowledged the complexities surrounding the issue. He said, "There are issues of free speech involved in this as well — we want to make sure that these laws don't get passed and then get knocked over."The proposed changes include federal offenses for "aggravated hate speech" aimed at preachers who promote violence and "serious vilification" based on race, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. The outlet noted that just 10 months ago, the government strengthened federal hate speech laws with the goal of curbing antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Simultaneously, New South Wales (NSW), where the terror attack took place, is considering banning chants of the phrase "globalize the intifada," which many consider to be an antisemitic call for violence against Jews. The ban would also apply to public displays of ISIS flags and extremist symbols.
Now, taking aim at that particular phrase isn't exactly something I have a problem with, because the whole "globalize the intifada" thing is a problem, but once you start regulating speech, it doesn't stop.
Right now, it's easy to say that people should be prosecuted for that phrase because only garbage people utter that particular phrase. It's associated with terrorism, and that makes it an easy target.
But as with anything, once you start stepping on people's rights, it becomes so much easier to keep doing it.
Hell, look at how quickly talking heads down under started worrying about Islamophobia after two Islamic terrorists gunned down innocent people. Where was this concern for antisemitic violence, for terrorism, and so on?
Oh no, they have to be worried about the Islamic population exclusively.
Look, I get that not all Muslims are terrorists. I'm not a collectivist at all. I think people should largely be judged as individuals, and so I won't claim every member of any group is anything.
But being worried about whether the chick in the burka is going to explode is far from unreasonable in many parts of the world.
And sooner or later, this push to attack hate speech will be turned on to someone who is just trying to say something they believe and the government simply doesn't like.
Look at the road the UK has been going down for years. Lately, they've been talking about how, if you love your country, you will prepare to fight Russia. A few weeks ago, they called it a hate crime to fly the English flag.
Does anyone think Australia is immune to this?
But this happens when a people are unable to resist. The UK took the guns, then started attacking free speech. Australia is taking the guns, and they want to attack free speech even further.
This isn't a coincidence. This is deliberate.
Once the means to fight back physically are gone, they take away the means to fight back with words. They know that, sooner or later, they'll push into the realm of unquestionable tyranny, and they don't want a populace that can overthrow the tyrants. That's where it starts and it won't stop until everything we think of as a freedom is gone.
And it doesn't just end on foreign shores, as far too many Americans want that here.
