Senate debates

Thursday, 20 March 2014

Motions

Racial Vilification

11:59 am

Photo of Richard Di NataleRichard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes proposals by the Abbott Government to repeal the provisions of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 which provide protections against racial vilification;

(b) commends the words of the Member for Hasluck, Mr Ken Wyatt, who said he did not support repeal of these provisions because 'Australia has come a long way in the last 30 or 40 years and what I wouldn't like to see is a regression that allows those who have bigoted viewpoints to vilify any group of people' and 'I support the whole concept of free speech, but I think there are boundaries that you have to draw and this is one of them'; and

(c) reaffirms its strong stance against racial vilification.

Question agreed to.