Australia on Thursday enacted stringent anti-hate crime laws, introducing mandatory minimum sentences for terror-related offenses and the display of hate symbols in response to a recent rise in antisemitism, Reuters reported.
Under the new legislation, those convicted of lesser hate crimes, such as performing a Nazi salute in public, will face at least 12 months in prison, while individuals found guilty of terrorism offenses could receive a minimum of six years behind bars.
“I want people who are engaged in antisemitism to be held to account, to be charged, to be incarcerated,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was quoted as having told Sky News.
Albanese, who had initially opposed mandatory minimum sentences for hate crimes, has since backed the tougher measures.
The new laws come amid a sharp uptick in antisemitic attacks in recent months, targeting synagogues, Jewish buildings, and vehicles across the country.
In early December, the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was firebombed, in an incident that is being treated as an act of terrorism.
Days later, a car was set on fire, and two properties were vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra, which has a substantial Jewish population.
In another incident, the words "F— the Jews" were spray-painted on a car in Sydney.
In early January, the Southern Sydney Synagogue in Allawah, a suburb of the city, was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti.
A day later, the Newtown synagogue, located in Sydney’s inner west, was vandalized with red swastikas that were spray-painted across the building’s front wall.
In another incident, a home in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, previously owned by Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, was vandalized.
Last week, antisemitic graffiti was also discovered at three locations, including Mount Sinai College in the city’s east.
That came a day after authorities revealed they had discovered explosives inside a caravan in Sydney, with police estimating that they could have generated a blast wave of 40 meters. Investigators suspect the explosives may have been intended for a large-scale attack targeting the Jewish community.
Early this week, Sydney police reported that cars and houses had been vandalized with antisemitic graffiti.