• New South Wales enacts strict gun laws limiting ownership after Bondi Beach shooting.
• Authorities now hold the power to ban protests for three months post-terror incidents.
• Activist groups plan constitutional challenges against the anti-protest legislation.
• The recent legislation followed the alleged antisemitic attack that resulted in 15 deaths.
• Prime Minister Albanese advocates for stricter hate speech laws in response to rising antisemitism.

New South Wales (NSW) has passed sweeping new legislation aimed at tightening gun ownership and enhancing police powers in response to a devastating shooting at a Jewish celebration on Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead. The legislation was expedited following the December 14 attack, regarded as Australia's deadliest mass shooting in almost three decades, which has heightened calls for reform, according to Channel News Asia and Reuters.

The new legislation, known as the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, significantly limits gun ownership, capping individual licenses at four firearms, with farmers being allowed up to ten. Additionally, the law gives police unprecedented powers to restrict public protests for up to three months following any act of terrorism and bans the display of symbols associated with terrorist organizations, including terms that could incite violence, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters.

In the aftermath of the Bondi Beach attack, where alleged gunmen were reportedly inspired by the Islamic State, activist groups have condemned the new anti-protest laws as draconian and rushed. A coalition of Palestinian, Jewish, and Indigenous advocacy groups is preparing to file constitutional challenges, stating that the NSW government is undermining democratic freedoms. Palestine Action Group Sydney and others argue that the laws target political dissent and criticism of Israel, as highlighted by Channel News Asia and Al Jazeera.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has defended the legislation, insisting that such measures are necessary to restore public safety and address the changed environment post-attack, indicating "very significant changes that not everyone will agree with," as noted by Reuters and Al Jazeera.

In conjunction with these changes, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's federal government is also pushing for stricter laws against hate speech, aiming to prosecute offenses promoting violence and hatred more effectively. Albanese's approach, urged by increasing incidents of antisemitism, has been supported by calls for stronger scrutiny over groups promoting extremist ideologies, as emphasized by Channel News Asia and Reuters.