Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has welcomed the federal government's decision to retreat from proposed hate speech laws, arguing the Prime Minister sought to curtail free speech for political expediency.

Over the weekend, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese agreed to split draft legislation introduced after the Bondi Beach terror attack into two parts — one dealing with vilification and intimidation, and another focused on firearms.

"We will only proceed with measures that have the support of the parliament," Mr Albanese said on Saturday afternoon after the Greens announced they would join the Coalition in opposing the government's original, large-scale bill, which encompassed laws tackling firearms, as well as hate speech, migration and racial vilification.

While the gun reforms are expected to pass the Senate this week with the Greens' support, opposition from across the political spectrum has seen the hate speech measures sidelined.

In a statement, Senator Price welcomed the move, arguing the laws "ultimately would have been used to restrict truths being told and legitimate criticisms being expressed because someone takes offence".

"Leveraging off the Bondi tragedy — and using the justification of combatting antisemitism — the politically expedient Anthony Albanese sought to pass laws curtailing free speech that have been on his mind for a long time," she said.

The senator, who was stood down from the opposition frontbench last year for failing to support Sussan Ley's leadership, has been outspoken on immigration and Islam. Last year, she falsely accused Labor of importing immigrants — singling out the Indian community — for votes.

In her statement, she claimed the Prime Minister was using domestic political considerations to "ringfence Islam from any reasonable scrutiny" and to "shut down debate on key policy issues like mass immigration".

She said the proposed laws were unnecessary, arguing existing laws should instead be enforced and blaming the Prime Minister for inaction following protests at the Sydney Opera House in the days after the October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel.

"It's scandalous that, despite so many crimes, there have been so few arrests and so few visas cancelled," Senator Price said. "Anthony Albanese has failed to act."

The proposed legislation, due to be debated in Parliament tomorrow, would give the government powers to ban hate groups — including the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network, which has said it will disband if the laws proceed, and Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which says it has no plans to do so — as well as expanded powers to deny visas.

Senator Price argued that if the Prime Minister is "serious about combatting the root causes of antisemitism — which include radical Islamism — he would ensure that existing laws are readily enforced".

"And that's exactly what his government must do to deter further acts of antisemitism and terrorism," she added.

The government has shelved plans to criminalise promoting racial hatred after failing to secure support from either the Coalition or the Greens, with the original bill also criticised by civil liberties groups.

The Coalition's right wing raised strong concerns that the proposal would infringe on freedom of speech, while the Greens argued the protections should be expanded beyond racial hatred to also include LGBTQ people and religious groups.

The Prime Minister and senior ministers have criticised the Coalition for opposing the hate speech laws, noting the opposition had pushed for Parliament to reconvene before Christmas.

Asked on ABC Radio on Monday whether a defeat of the laws during a special sitting would mean they were dead, Mr Albanese said: "Correct."

"We're not a government that puts things up over and over again to see them defeated," he said.

In a separate ABC appearance, he added: "The racial vilification elements were things that were recommended by the envoy on antisemitism.

"The opposition said that they supported the antisemitism envoy's report, wanted it implemented in full, but when it came to us presenting the laws, they walked away from them. That's up to them to explain why they did that."

The government and opposition are now seeking to negotiate on the stripped-back legislation, with Deputy Liberal leader Ted O'Brien declining to outline the details of discussions held during Sunday night's shadow cabinet meeting.

"We'll be discussing with the government today and I obviously won't be pre-empting those negotiations on morning TV," he told Nine on Monday morning, "other than to say that we are very genuine in wanting to ensure that we deliver something in the national interest."