The new laws ban groups deemed to spread hate and introduce tougher penalties for preachers who advocate violence.
The recommendations are reminiscent of those made by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the March 15 terror attack in Christchurch.
Since 2021, successive New Zealand governments have begun, paused, and then stopped all policy and legislative work on hate speech.
Race Relations Commissioner Dr Melissa Derby told The Front Page that there would be room for expanding the laws.
“Whether that happens or not is secondary to the fact that we should be addressing these issues in New Zealand.
“A number of groups are very concerned about hateful rhetoric. All groups want better education about the impacts of harmful speech. Some groups absolutely want legislative change, some don’t. It’s important to note that even within communities, there are a variety of views.
“The Australian example has shown how complex these issues are. I think we know that, but I do think we fail to recognise the degree of complexity and nuance in these issues.
“I’m talking very general terms here, but I think a lot of people see if you are for free speech, you must therefore not have any concern whatsoever about hate speech. Or if you want changes to our hate speech threshold and laws, then you must want to censor everybody.
“I think that’s a very binary way of looking at a very complex issue. We can understand and appreciate and want to protect the fundamental human right of freedom of expression ... while at the same time being very concerned about some of the increasingly harmful and hateful rhetoric that we’re seeing directed at communities.
“I think we need to come together as a country and discuss or hold a constructive, mature, facilitated conversation about how we actually address some of these issues so that we can balance as best we can,” she said.
The Australian government has established a Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in the wake of the Bondi terror attack on December 14.
Derby said New Zealand’s Human Rights Commission is in close contact about our shared experiences with extremism.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Current hate speech laws in NZ
- Online radicalisation and extremism
- Lessons from Australia
- Shared challenges
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
