Nova Peris (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to talk to the matter of public importance on the Abbott government's confused and chaotic approach to hate speech provisions in the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. It really saddens me that we are still having to discuss this issue. It saddens me that last year when the Australian parliament was having a debate about whether it was okay to be a bigot, whether we needed to protect the rights of bigots, that the government said we did. The Attorney-General of Australia justified changing the Racial Discrimination Act because we needed to protect the rights of bigots. I really thought that this country had moved far beyond this and it saddens me that we are still forced to debate this issue.

For those of you who have forgotten, I will go back and quickly recap what has just brought us here. Last year the Abbott government announced that they would repeal section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act and there was enormous widespread opposition from thousands of community groups across this country. In fact, the only support came from groups and individuals who have never suffered racial discrimination. I heard Senator Edwards talking previously, saying that this is about free speech. I can remind him that, under pressure, the Attorney-General said in response to a question which I asked him in this chamber: 'People do have a right to be bigots.' Right then and there the cat was let out of the bag. This was not about protecting free speech; it was about protecting hate speech. And the Attorney-General defended the rights of Australians to be bigots.

I accept that the Attorney-General has suffered abuse; perhaps we all have. He feels he has suffered vilification at times, but he has never suffered racial vilification. He will never know what it is like to be abused because of the colour of your skin or because you belong to an ethnic minority group. He will never know what it is like and he has only listened to the people who will never know what it is like.

I have talked previously in the house about the devastating impact that racial abuse can have, and I could go on and on and on for days. For three months after the Attorney made the statement, the government continued to push ahead with the case. They continued to argue that the laws should be changed. In fact, I actually wrote to the Prime Minister, pointing out that his insistence to push ahead with changes to section 18C was compromising progress towards constitutional recognition. And guess what? The Prime Minister dismissed everything that I outlined in that letter. The government continued to argue that the laws should be changed, but the public continued to argue that the laws were a green light to racism and, finally, the Prime Minister caved in to the public pressure. But he did not say that the changes he was proposing were wrong. He even admitted that he rang Andrew Bolt to apologise for not implementing them. It was just about politics. He just said that the timing was wrong, because he wanted everyone to be part of Team Australia. We know that he still wanted to protect the rights of bigots—just not now. Perhaps later. But what he was doing was giving the green light to race hate speech.

Where are we right now? We are back at the drawing board and we now have a whole lot of government senators promising to continue to support the watering down of this legislation. Of all the things that the government have done, it is this that they choose to rebel on. They are not going to cross the floor on Medicare or higher education fees or cuts to the poorest people in society, but they will cross the floor to support the fight to protect bigots. It speaks volumes about their priorities. It also shows that they have given the nod—perhaps a wink. They know that they have permission to cross the floor, that it will perhaps be good for their career later on, and that they are not really opposing the Prime Minister. They know that, despite what he might say publicly, they have the support of the Prime Minister to continue to vote for the watering down of racial discrimination laws. The message that has been sent is very clear. They are telling their supporters not to worry: 'we still want to protect the rights of bigots.'

We have seen the hypocrisy of late. The government have announced that, in the name of national security, they want to crack down on free speech. They are essentially saying that if you are a member of a minority group you do not get the right of free speech, but you can have all the free speech you like if you are attacking a minority group. That is the message this government is sending.

There are senators in this place who have outlined their intention to vote in support of watering down these racial discrimination laws. I think that it is shameful; but, sadly, I am not surprised. As I have said, I find it really disappointing that this parliament is even having this debate. This community has moved on. Sporting associations and sporting bodies in Australia and internationally have all moved on. They all have rules against racial discrimination in any form and they run the highest public campaigns across this country. This parliament is the opposite. We are still debating whether bigots have rights. What an international embarrassment we will be as a parliament to endorse bigotry.

The Racial Discrimination Act has served Australia well for 20 years. It sends a message of respect, it sends a message of support, it sends a message of inclusiveness and it sends a message of harmony. Those who support the watering down of racial discrimination laws are spreading a message of bigotry and hatred, and shame on them. I support the current laws. I do not support the rights of bigots. I support a tolerant society and I really hope that this parliament does what the community wants us to do, and that is to show some respect for each other.