Walk for Respect: Celebrating success and Australia's multiculturalism

Walk for Respect, celebrates its win of keeping Section 18C unchanged after the Senate voted to keep that part of the Racial Discrimination Act.

Walk for Respect Source: SBS Filipino/A. Violata

Jubillatiion was overwhelming at this year's Walk for Respect as an estimated 3,000 participants walked through to Parry Park in Lakemba after the Government lost its attempt to change part of the Section 18C of the Act.

In a statement, Federal Labor MP Tony Burke said that on Thursday (March 30), the Senate has blocked the Federal Government's attempt to change the wording of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. Thirty-one senators including Labor, The Greens, Nick Xenophon Team and Jackie Lambie voted to keep 18C; while 28 senators - Liberal/Nationals, One Nation, Derryn Hinch, David Leyonhjelm and Cory Bernardi - voted to remove 18C protections. Under the Government's proposed changes to the race-hate laws, the words "insult" and "offend" will be removed and be replaced with the word "harass".

The Walk for Respect which initially was done in 2014, continues to attract people from different background, including the Filipino community where representatives from various Filipino organisations have walked and showed their support for keeping Section 18C.

We ask Violi Calvert, a Filipino community leader about her thoughts on keeping Section 18C and why she supports the Walk for Respect and will continue to do so.