FEDERAL MP Scott Buchholz has voted yes to tightening up hate laws and no to tightening up gun laws in a move he says shows his loyalty to his constituents.
On January 20, the federal parliament enacted the amended Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026.
This bill had been separated from the gun law reforms which were part of the original omnibus bill.
The legislation was introduced in response to the antisemitic terrorist attack at Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025.
Mr Buchholz faced backlash on social media after the vote, with some users taking to the comments sections of recent posts to label him a ‘traitor’ after he voted yes to tightening up hate laws.
Mr Buchholz told the Tamborine Mountain News that while he understood confusion around the complex matter, he had remained true to his original position to vote against gun law reforms.
He said his guiding principles of ‘honesty and integrity’ were at the centre of how he voted on the bills.
“I voted no for the gun laws and yes to make it harder for hate speech. It’s aligned with the values of the electorate,” he said.
He also said he had supported an amendment (which Labor voted down) seeking to ban burning the Australian flag.
“There was the original omnibus bill which was first introduced to the house and then it was split and then because they couldn’t find any friends to support it, they basically came to us and said, ‘hey listen, you take out whatever you want – we need to find stuff we both agree on’,” he said.
“So, the bill was split into two – I supported the hate bill because we got our amendments through. It allowed us with greater ease to deport hate preachers… we’re of the opinion the hate preachers are Muslim extremists, and there were religious exemptions, and we got those exemptions removed. That’s what I said yes to – to making our community safer.”
Buchholz said the amendments protected free speech.
“I think in the bill’s original form, if people would have said something nasty on Facebook, they would have been liable to be imprisoned like they are overseas but we had that removed – we only focused on the religious component,” he said.
“I can understand the confusion because the bill in its original form would have done that, but we had those components removed.”
The Coalition between the Liberal and National parties split following the vote, with all Nationals frontbenchers quitting the shadow cabinet.
