Trump official’s chilling warning as Anthony Albanese prepares to make huge change in Australia: ‘Deeply perverse’

A senior US State Department official has taken aim at new hate speech laws in Australia, claiming one detail could cause ‘deeply perverse’ outcomes.

The Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers raised concerns over a clause included in the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese intends to bring in new hate speech laws in the wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack on December 14.

It will become a federal offence to publicly promote or incite racial hatred that makes a person feel intimidated, harassed, or unsafe.

Aussie activist Drew Pavlou claimed on X there was a clause that exempts people who directly quote from religious texts, which would benefit extremists.

‘The Australian government now plans to introduce five year prison sentences for amorphous acts of “hate speech” – defined in such broad terms that it might cover even the most basic calls to lower migration or deport jihadist extremists,’ he wrote.

‘Meanwhile the Australian government have introduced a special carve out clause in the hate speech legislation to allow Muslim extremists to continue preaching hate so long as they can argue that they are directly quoting or referencing the Quran.’

Rogers shared the post and said she hoped ‘this isn’t what Australia intends’.

‘A statute that imprisons you for calling to deport jihadist extremists – but provides safe harbor if you *are* a jihadist extremist – would be deeply perverse,’ she wrote.

‘This could be a clumsy effort to avoid the disgraces seen in Europe+UK, where citizens are jailed for quoting the Bible or even praying silently.

‘But the problem with ‘hate speech’ laws – one problem of many – is that they’re enforced by the kinds of people who coddle actual violent zealots, so long as they seem subaltern.’

Rogers described ‘religious freedom’ as a ‘core value of our administration’.

‘But protecting speech *only* if it’s religious, while arresting people for secular rejoinders, may distort the public sphere in ways that even progressive censorship enthusiasts dislike,’ she wrote.

Albanese on Monday confirmed he will order both the House of Representatives and the Senate to return on January 19 and 20 to deal with new legislation.

The emergency sitting will begin with a condolence motion honouring the victims of the antisemitic attack, paying tribute to those killed, those injured, and the families whose lives have been forever changed.

In a display of unity, the government and Opposition have already agreed on the wording.

After tributes, Parliament will turn immediately to the centrepiece of the government’s response: the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026.

Drafted in the immediate aftermath of the Bondi Beach attack, the bill will be introduced on Monday, debated on Tuesday, and then fast-tracked to the Senate.

The bill marks one of the most far‑reaching crackdowns on extremism in years.

It introduces tough new offences aimed at hate preachers and extremist leaders who attempt to radicalise children.

Penalties for hate‑crime offences will be significantly increased, and courts will be required to take extremist motivation into account during sentencing.

The government is also creating a new offence for inciting hatred with the intention to intimidate or harass, while expanding the ban on prohibited extremist symbols.

‘We want to ensure that Australia remains a society where everyone has the right to be proud of who they are and we also want to make it clear that conduct which is hateful, dangerous, and divisive will also be illegal,’ Albanese said to reporters in Canberra on Monday.

‘Just as antisemitism and racism are an offence against our Australian values, they should be an offence against Australian law.’