Draft federal anti-discrimination laws that make it unlawful to offend, insult or intimidate others are proving to be highly controversial.
(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)
Provisions in the federal government's draft anti-discrimination laws that make it unlawful to offend, insult or intimidate others are proving to be highly controversial.
Criticism has come from a diverse range of sources, including Australia's largest media organisations, the Australian Greens, the Federal Opposition and the Independent MP Tony Windsor.
The federal government says it's attempting to consolidate the nation's five federal anti-discrimination acts into a single bill with the aim of resolving gaps and inconsistencies.
Some of the criticism of the proposed legislation has made reference to the Andrew Bolt case of 2011 where the Federal Court found the News Limited writer breached the Racial Discrimination Act with a series of articles he wrote in 2009.
As Greg Dyett reports, the articles accused a number of fair skinned Indigenous people of choosing to identify as Aboriginal for their own personal gain.
