Federal parliament returns early today and the prime minister has removed a racial vilification offence from Labor’s proposed hate speech laws and will now deal with restrictions on guns in a separate bill.

Anthony Albanese had to change course after the bill came under huge criticism from the Greens and the federal opposition, with leader Sussan Ley describing it as half-baked and unsalvageable. 

The bill came after the Bondi attack in a bid to stamp out antisemtism. So, what was in the doomed bill? And was it really that bad? 

Today, Professor Kath Gelber, an expert in regulating hate speech from the University of Queensland, on the problems she saw in the government’s bill. 

Editor’s note: Organisers of August’s pro-Palestinian protest on the Sydney Harbour Bridge estimated 300,000 were there. The police estimate on the day was 90,000 people and the NSW Premier has said more than 100,000 attended. 

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Professor Kath Gelber, Deputy Executive Dean and Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Queensland