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

I did consult the Oxford English Dictionary, and one of the senses given—there are several—allows for a single act. But, you are right, Senator Bernardi, that the most common use of the word 'harassment' does contemplate a multiplicity of acts, and that is the only way in which the word is defined in the Macquarie Dictionary, so the lexicographers have a difference about this. In the case law, most of the case law suggests a multiplicity of acts, but there is at least one decision, a case in the Federal Court called Hall v Sheiban in 1989, in which one of the judges suggested that a single act in certain circumstances could constitute harassment. If the lexicographers cannot agree and the judiciary cannot agree, who are we, mere senators, to resolve the issue?

That is why, Senator Bernardi, the government is inserting this amendment: to put the question beyond doubt, to give the word 'harass' an extended meaning, if there is any doubt about it, so that, under the extended definition that this amendment provides for, the most normal meaning of the word 'harass'—that is, a series or multiplicity of acts—would constitute harassment, but a single act could constitute harassment as well.