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

I understand the point you make, and you and I are, I think, reasonably close on this issue. But I would draw the line in a slightly different place from where you would.

I think that to do something that encourages the slaughter of a population does not fall within the protection of free speech. You know my views about free speech and section 18C, and the debate we have been having in this country for the last couple of years. I entirely agree with you that opinions, no matter how offensive they may be to some, should be able to be freely articulated. And if you believe in freedom of speech then you will defend the right of people to express opinions that you find objectionable or offensive. But to encourage a course of conduct that may result in violence to a person, or a group of people or a population is, it seems to me, not to express an opinion, however offensive, but to encourage a harmful act. And that is where I would draw the line. The statement that I instanced seems to me to be more than merely the expression in rhetorical language of an unpleasant opinion but the encouragement of an act.