Australia is partway through the process of listing the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terror organization under its new hate laws, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke revealed on Sunday.
Established in Jerusalem in 1953, Hizb ut Tahrir is dedicated to establishing a caliphate across the Muslim world. It publicly states that it does not engage in armed struggle, and there is no widely documented case of it carrying out terrorist attacks.
Nevertheless, it praises armed jihad, espouses hostile rhetoric toward Jews and Israel, and calls for the overthrow of governments in Muslim-majority countries. It is banned in Germany, Russia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Egypt.
Burke confirmed on Sunday that “the first stage, on the process of listing a prohibited group [for Hizb ut-Tahrir], is now complete, the ASIO advice is in,” he said, referring to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, which stated that Hizb ut-Tahrir now meets the threshold required for a ban.
Australian law consider terror organizations
Under the new Australian law, an organization can be listed as a terror organization if it is directly or indirectly engaged in preparing, planning, assisting in, or fostering terrorist acts, or if it advocates the doing of a terrorist act. Firstly, the ASIO must assess whether the group meets the legal threshold for listing.
Following this, the Department of Home Affairs prepares a formal legal and policy brief that assesses whether the evidence satisfies the legal threshold, what the risks of legal challenge are, and what the diplomatic implications are.
Burke explained that the brief is the “second threshold that has to be determined.”
If this proceeds, the government must notify the leader of the opposition to ensure bipartisan oversight. Finally, the attorney-general must approve the regulation that formally lists the organization. Once signed, the organization is added to the terrorist organizations list.
“Hizb ut-Tahrir is an organization I’ve been fighting since my first term in Parliament, back in the days when the Liberal government was rolling out the red carpet for them at the embassy and giving them speaking tour visas in Australia,” Burke said.
In the mid-2000s to early 2010s, Hizb ut-Tahrir representatives were allowed into Australia to hold public lectures and events.
The Australian branch was set to hold a conference in late November on encouraging Islam as an alternative global governance system, but Australian officials warned that the group presented a threat and should be banned.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess then compared the group’s strategy and rhetoric to that of the White Australia neo-Nazi group that protested in front of the New South Wales Parliament.
“The organization’s condemnation of Israel and Jews attracts media attention and aids recruitment, but it deliberately stops short of promoting onshore acts of politically motivated violence,” he said.
“Hizb ut-Tahrir wants to test and stretch the boundaries of legality without breaking them. I fear its anti-Israel rhetoric is fueling and normalizing wider antisemitic narratives.”
In 2015, Ismail Al-Wahwah, spiritual leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir, called Jews “the most evil creatures of Allah,” and urged people to “rid the world of that hidden evil.”
“Moral corruption is linked to the Jews. Prostitution in the world began with the Israelites. Usury and gambling began with the Israelites. Killing who began with the Israelites. They slayed the prophets without just cause.... They have corrupted the world with their corrupt media. The Israelites have corrupted the world with so-called art, cinema, and corrupt films, and with sex trade, drug trade, and moral depravity. They have corrupted the world in every respect. These are the Israelites,” he said.
Following the 2025 Bondi Beach massacre, Hizb ut-Tahrir’s website was taken down.