Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think there is an awful lot here that we can agree upon. All Australians have the right to live free from fear of violence and racial discrimination. This we can all agree upon. But the fact is that section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act is bad legislation. It is bad law and it simply does not work. It has not reduced racial vilification or done what it has set out to do. Instead, it has captured in its web students from the Queensland University of Technology. University is a place where ideas should be contested and people should feel free to say whatever it is they want. All that these students did was question the fairness of an Indigenous-only computer lab, and they did it on social media. This is not harassment in any way, shape or form. Section 18C captured in its web a cartoonist whose sole purpose in life was to satirise. But it did not capture a single participant in violent anti-immigration rallies in Melbourne last November and last June. It did not capture a single participant in the Reclaim Australia rallies in Sydney last July.

The law is not working. The law needs to be amended. I honestly feel that the amendments that have been suggested to both the wording and the process are measured in their response and will make this law more effective. The law was developed with good intentions; Senator Moore is absolutely correct there. It was established to defend the vulnerable, to articulate the principles of a successful multicultural society and to reflect our values of inclusion and acceptance. But it is a bad law that does not achieve its objectives. As legislators it is our responsibility to change laws that do not meet their objectives.

Instead of stopping racial vilification, it actually has the practical effect of making it unlawful to hurt people's feelings. That is such a subjective term. Such a subjective benchmark is impossible to maintain. It is political correctness gone mad. The only sensible course of action is to amend section 18C to direct it towards far more serious conduct.

I feel that the government responded appropriately to this problem. It was the right approach to convene the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. My understanding is that the work that was done by that committee was done respectfully, thoughtfully and very thoroughly. The work on this particularly vexed and contentious issue was done with the best intentions. The report from the committee is highly valued. I also would like to commend my coalition colleagues, the Prime Minister and cabinet for the mature, considered and respectful debate and for the way this bill was developed and delivered.

Let us have a quick look at what changes are made. The bill proposes reforms to the wording of the act as well as reforms to the complaint-handling processes of the AHRC. The current wording clearly lacks credibility. We are removing the highly subjective and emotive words of 'offend, insult and humiliate' and replacing them with the word 'harass', which is a far more powerful word and one which better describes the behaviour we all want to see outlawed. The current language in the Racial Discrimination Act lacks credibility.

It is not lost on me or anyone on this side of the chamber that yesterday was Harmony Day. We are a proud nation of migrants. We are also a nation that values our freedoms. The freedom of speech is fundamental, elemental, to all other freedoms. The changes proposed to the Racial Discrimination Act are not something we should fear but are something we should embrace. This is not a watering down of the law. It creates a clearer, stronger and far more credible law. Most importantly, it is a balanced law that will defend free speech and protect Australians from genuine racial discrimination.