Divisions deepen over Racial Discrimination changes

The Coalition is facing deepening divisions over proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act, with some backbenchers reportedly drafting their own proposal.

Therese Gambaro

Backbencher Therese Gambaro during House of Representatives question time at Parliament House, Canberra (File: AAP)

Member for Brisbane, Teresa Gambaro, has told SBS that she has concerns over the proposal, and wants the public consultation process extended.
 
It’s due to end tomorrow, but Ms Gambaro claims the four-week period isn’t long enough to start a nation-wide conversation.
 
“As someone who has been on the receiving end of racial hatred speech for most of my life, I am most concerned that we as a nation we take the time to get the balance on these proposed changes right,” Ms Gambaro said in a written statement issued to SBS.
 
“While we cannot legislate to stop people’s thoughts, we can legislate to stop people’s conduct,” the Liberal MP said.
 
That statement comes after Attorney-General George Brandis last month said it was not government’s role to ban conduct that would hurt people’s feelings.
 
But Labor says opposition from the backbench is only useful if the MPs commit to blocking it in Parliament.
 
"It's not enough for some of these MPs on the government side to say they oppose it [the changes], without doing something about it and actually getting up and opposing it," Shadow Multicultural Affairs Minister Michelle Rowland said.
 
Senator Brandis announced the proposed changes last month, which would see the removal of the words “offend”, “insult” and “humiliate” from the Act.
 
Gillian Triggs, the President of the Human Rights Commission says she expects “hundreds if not thousands” of submissions to be made to the government on the changes.
 
The Human Rights Commission today made public its submission, which calls for the changes to be rejected.
 
Professor Triggs says the pendulum has swung too far.
 
“It [the proposed changes] allows you to say almost anything you want to in the public arena, and we feel that can lead to an abuse of the right to freedom of speech,” Professor Triggs said.
 
She says the changes “sends entirely the wrong signal” and that racial vilification is on the rise across Australia.
 
Self-described Freedom Commissioner, Tim Wilson, has a different take on the proposal.
 
He supports the government’s amendments.
 
“The question isn’t if the Act should change; it’s how the Act should change,” Mr Wilson said.


Share
3 min read

Published

Updated

By Shalailah Medhora
Source: SBS

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world