Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Wasn't August a big month for Senator Brandis? First up, we had Senator Brandis finally falling on his sword with respect to his proposed 'rights to be bigots' reform to the Racial Discrimination Act. Then, minutes later, in the same press conference, we had the Prime Minister and Senator Brandis bumbling over the government's new mandatory data retention laws and its lack of a definition for metadata. The press conference was followed by one of the most excruciating interviews since Mike Willesee sliced John Hewson into hundreds of pieces of birthday cake over 20 years ago. That interview was on Dr Hewson's proposed 15 per cent GST. From the answers of the Leader of the Government in the Senate today, it appears the Liberal-National coalition is still as lost on the topic of the GST as it was under Dr Hewson. But I digress and return to the Brandis bungles.

Firstly, I want to take the opportunity to congratulate the thousands of Australians and hundreds of organisations who rose up to speak against these changes. The voices of the people have been heard loud and clear across the country and the world. This backdown, this broken election promise, is a win for tolerance in this country. It is a win for our multicultural Australian society. Thankfully, the proposed ill-conceived changes to section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act now rest where they always truly belonged—on the scrap heap. The Attorney-General spent months here in the Senate stating that the government were about protecting the right of bigots. No-one has the right to be a bigot, Senator Brandis—not Andrew Bolt, not the racist who dropped anti-Semitic leaflets in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. It is still a concern that the Abbott government appears to have left this reform in the top drawer. It is not good enough. Even the proposal of these reforms and the bungled explanations from the Attorney-General signalled a green light to racism.

I also want to comment on the ongoing Brandis bungle on data retention. What is metadata? Despite the policy announcement and the huge fanfare, at present the government does not have a clear definition of metadata or 'megadata', as one confused journalist said in a recent interview—a slip of the tongue that is symptomatic of this government's absolute failure to explain anything that it is doing. For if the press cannot even get a simple phrase correct and if the government does not have a clear definition of that phrase, how does Senator Brandis expect the Australian people to understand what it all means? The really concerning thing in the data retention debate is that we are dealing with vitally important national security issues.

As a responsible party of government, the Labor Party has a natural inclination to support the government of the day in its ventures to keep Australia safe. However, if the government are incapable of structuring a coherent argument, how can you expect the Labor Party to work through these complex national security matters with them? It would not be responsible of the opposition, the Labor Party, to give the government a blank cheque on their reforms. These reforms are complex, but the Abbott government, through its Attorney-General, Senator Brandis, has been particularly confused in its explanations of these policies. It is important that the government understands the details of its policies. There are very serious matters at stake. It is also vital that the proposed reform to section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act is not kept in the top drawer by the Liberal and National parties for another day.

We have the new senator from Queensland, Senator McGrath, who has said that he will cross the floor and vote for Senator Day's private senator's bill on these reforms. Senator McGrath is of course from Queensland, the home of outspoken Senator Macdonald and the Attorney-General, Senator Brandis. I hope Senator Brandis holds firm and does not introduce this reform, and I hope Senator Brandis holds firm and breaks his election commitment, because I believe this reform offends the Australian spirit. I believe this reform offends Australia's notion of a fair go for all. It the election commitment to reform the Racial Discrimination Act is so dispensable, if the definition of metadata is too hard to explain, then no-one should believe Senator Abetz when he says that the government has no intention of changing GST distribution.