Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There is nothing better than the opportunity to speak about the importance of free speech and to follow the diatribe before, because the member there has a privileged right as a member of this place to get up and say whatever he likes. But he won't afford the same privilege to others. In fact, he uses the opportunity and the platform he has been given to judge people based on the colour of their skin and not the content of their character. Isn't that exactly what he claims—he claims—he is trying to stand up against? That is the problem. At the heart of the ALP they play identity politics. They focus on points of division rather than points of unity. They make a mockery of universal human rights and they ought to be ashamed of themselves.

I welcome this report and the recommendations that have come out of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. I do so because I am a Liberal. And we believe in free speech. We believe in free speech because it is the foundation of a free society, democracy and dignity of the individual. If you ever want to bring that into question, go and read the great Sir Robert Menzies, and particularly his second and third forgotten people speeches. He spoke explicitly about free speech and how it is not just at the core of liberalism because it focuses on individual dignity but also because it is central to the operations of a democracy. That is why we must preserve it and that is why we must protect it.

But, I acknowledge that a serious concern has been raised by people who support either the current version of this law or equally some form of reform law into the future, and that is that we must always protect people against harassment in society—we must. If we are to preserve people's dignity equally, people have to be able to live their life in freedom and free from intimidation and harassment. Frankly, I do not think it should be limited just to issues of race—I think exactly the same principle should apply to people based on their gender, their disability, their sexual orientation or any other irrelevant issue or attribute. People have to feel safe. That is what I said in my submission to this inquiry, and that is the liberal way.

The important thing about this report is that it provides a way forward. The previous speaker was such a hypocrite in the way that he indulged—

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