Page 5090 - Week 16 - Wednesday, 27 November 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
I hope that we can come to an agreed position that, while not 100 per cent perfect for either side of the debate, at least reflects a reasonable compromise on the name of the commissioner and perhaps at a later stage on the name of the Bill itself. I believe that there is an important educative role for this Bill and for the commissioner appointed under the legislation. It is very important that people are not put off; but it is equally important, and I take the point made by members opposite, that people know what the Bill is about.
If, in your view, taking out the words "Human Rights" gives people a clearer understanding of what the Bill is about, then I am prepared to do that. But I hope that you are equally prepared to move a little and to accept that the word "discrimination" may be seen as negative and may put people off. It may also not be a very accurate description of what the Bill is about. It goes beyond discrimination. If you had made it "anti-discrimination" I would understand it a little better.
I put forward the amendment to Mr Collaery's amendment and hope that members will see it in a reasonable light. It is an important issue in dealing with the Bill and one where it is worth compromising just a little on the initial position that I and Mr Collaery and others have put in the course of debate. I commend my amendment to the Assembly.
MR STEVENSON (3.59): It is interesting to note that the Chief Minister says that the word "discrimination" has a negative connotation. If we look in the dictionary at the word "discriminate", we see, "To divide, distinguish, to observe the difference between, to select from others".
Mr Moore: Dennis, your dictionary is out of date.
MR STEVENSON: Mr Moore says that my dictionary is out of date.
Mr Moore: What year is it?
MR STEVENSON: It is a 1943 New Twentieth Century Dictionary, unabridged.
Mr Moore: Our language changes.
MR STEVENSON: Mr Moore says that our dictionaries change. This is the very reason why I ensure that I have one wherein the meanings have not been changed by those who would give different definitions to certain things, those who would say that discrimination is a negative thing, exactly as the Chief Minister said a moment ago. Indeed, it has come to mean a negative thing.
Why is the word "discrimination" held to be negative? What more valuable characteristic could any of us have in this Assembly than to be able to select correctly one thing from another, so that not all are the same? What more valuable
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .