George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much indeed, Senator Ruston, for your question. I know this is an issue that means a lot to you.

The exposure draft, which was released this morning, seeks to address two of the problems with the existing section 18C. The first problem is that, as I said a moment ago to our colleague Senator Di Natale, section 18C in its current form tries to attack racism through political censorship. Political censorship is never the right way to attack a social problem. Political censorship is certainly not the right way to attack racism. So the proposed replacement section for 18C ensures that freedom of speech, freedom of public discussion, is protected. Secondly, the proposed new section, as I said to Senator Di Natale, for the very first time in Commonwealth law creates a prohibition on racial vilification.

It does frustrate me, if I may say so, that so much of the discussion in recent months about section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act—it was implicit in the false premise of Senator Peris's question yesterday—has been on the basis—