NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has criticised comments by federal Attorney-General George Brandis that people have the right to be bigoted, declaring that vilification on the grounds of race or religion is ''always wrong''.
...''In commendably seeking to protect freedom of speech, we must not lower our defences against the evil of racial and religious intolerance,'' he said.''Bigotry should never be sanctioned, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Vilification on the grounds of race or religion is always wrong. There's no place for inciting hatred within our Australia society.''
Senator Brandis made his comments this week in response to
criticism by Labor of the federal government moves to change section 18C of the
Racial Discrimination Act.
It was used to prosecute News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt over an
article he wrote attacking ''fair-skinned'' Aborigines.
Under questioning from Labor Senator Nova Peris, Senator Brandis
said: ''People do have a right to be bigots, you know. In a free country,
people do have rights to say things that other people find insulting or
offensive or bigoted.''
But Mr O'Farrell said Australians ''enjoy a history as a state and
a nation of which we can be overwhelmingly proud''.
''But we must never forget that includes appalling examples of the
consequences of intolerance and hatred,'' he said.
''No government, no organisation, no citizen can afford to
be less than vigilant in combating bigotry, intolerance and hatred. And
frankly, our way of life depends on that vigilance.''
Senator Brandis released a draft exposure bill on Tuesday after a
lengthy cabinet meeting on Monday night in which he
was forced to water down his original proposal for changes to sections of
the Act.
The draft allows the government's position to remain fluid and
community groups to react....
One minister said:
''George has really drunk the right-wing Kool-Aid.''
Another minister said Mr Brandis' original proposal was ''much
worse'' than the agreed text and he had been forced to back down.
A third
minister present at the meeting said the original bill had been ''terrible''.
Asked if the cabinet had forced the change from a bill to an
exposure draft, that minister said ''things are evolving all the time'' and
that the exposure draft still ''needs to be changed quite substantially''.
The exposure draft released has proposed section 18C, which makes
it unlawful for someone to act in a manner likely to ''offend, insult,
humiliate or intimidate'' someone because of their race or ethnicity, would be
repealed while section 18D, which provides protections for freedom of speech,
will be removed and replaced by a new section.
The changes remove the words ''offend, insult and humiliate'',
leave in ''intimidate'' and adds the word ''vilify'' for the first time.
But a passage in the exposure draft that exempts words
and images "in public discussion of any political, social, cultural,
religious, artistic, academic or scientific matter", has attracted a storm
of criticism for being too broad and weakening current protections.
...Labor's shadow attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus, said the
''extreme'' changes proposed by Senator Brandis would ''give the green light to
racism and hate speech''.
''Having three cabinet ministers briefing against the
Attorney-General in today's papers is proof the Abbott cabinet has no
confidence in him,'' he said.
''They know it shows this government’s twisted priorities – not
even Tony Abbott’s closest supporters want to be associated with this.
''This shows how completely untrue the Attorney-General's claim
that his proposal is strengthening protections against racial vilification
is.''
Mr Dreyfus said the five-week time frame for consultation on the
proposed changes was also too short.
No comments:
Post a Comment