Australia passed new federal hate speech laws on Wednesday night (20/1/26) and there is still a lot of confusion about how they work and who they affect.

And in breaking news, late on Wednesday night all 11 National Party shadow ministers have resigned from the coalition front bench. The resignations are linked to the new hate speech laws and likely means the end of the coalition at least in the short-term. 

Below is a video with 2 interviews, one with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong on Nine and the other with Attorney-General Michelle Rowland on the ABC’s 7.30 Report explaining the new hate speech laws.

The bottom line is the new hate speech laws only impact on groups, organisations and their members.

Based on what Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong says in the below video “we’re not seeking to crack down on people’s difference of political debate” there is no impact on members of the public saying what they want on social media regarding “political debate”.

Both interviewers in the below video ask the question if someone says Israel is committing genocide is that illegal under the new laws.

It is almost identical to the question I asked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on “X” (15/1/26) and published on this website in an article on the 18/1/26 as per below: (Click here to see on “X”) 

The below video is Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong on Nine (21/1/26) and the Attorney-General Michelle Rowland (20/1/26) on the ABC’s 7.30 Report. (It was published on the Kangaroo Court of Australia YouTube channel on the 21/1/26.)

Neither Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong nor Attorney-General Michelle Rowland could give examples of how the new hate speech laws work, but they expect the police, the courts and all Australians to understand the laws better than they do.

While the new hate speech laws only apply to groups we won’t know until someone is charged and the laws are tested in court what they really cover. 

The new laws might be tested when Israeli President Isaac Herzog visits Australia on the 7^th of February 2026 with large protests expected.

The new hate speech laws will likely achieve very little, might not even be legal and have been a great distraction away from real issues facing Australians.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese might get a few days rest with the coalition self-destructing but in a week or two Albanese and the federal government will have to explain why they wasted so much time passing laws that achieve little.

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