Page 815 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 9 April 2014
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Justice Bromberg also found that Mr Bolt intended to be inflammatory. He wrote his articles with all the invective he could muster. He set out to be derisive, inflammatory and provocative. He was not seeking to further public debate, but to ridicule a group of people based on the colour of their skin. This is the sort of speech which has no place in a modern multicultural society.
In addition to the community outrage about the changes to section 18C, many Liberals are also now questioning the reasoning behind the changes and whether the end of making Mr Bolt happy justifies reopening Australia to racial abuse.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations and Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development) (11.19): I am pleased to speak in support of Dr Bourke’s motion today. The motion provides the Assembly with a chance to affirm its commitment to promoting inclusion, fairness and tolerance as the foundation of our multicultural Canberra community. It is also a chance to make a strong and public statement that the territory recognises the value of legal protections from racial abuse and discrimination and the provision of a framework where people have redress against unacceptable and unsociable racial stigmatisation and vilification.
I urge the Assembly today to present a united voice on this matter and to clearly state that racial abuse and discrimination will not be tolerated in our community. Tolerance and inclusiveness are essential in achieving a vision for a city which is inclusive of all and that, no matter what their birthplace, they feel welcome, recognised and valued. Racial discrimination and vilification prevent people from feeling safe and secure in our community and it should be not be acceptable in the ACT.
The government is committed to creating a safe, peaceful and inclusive society through the improvement of the protection of rights for individuals. Part of this work involves ensuring that our legal frameworks provide protection for the rights of the individual in our community. The government has consistently honoured this commitment through the provision of a strong human rights framework. The territory is one of only two Australian jurisdictions with a human rights statute, the Human Rights Act 2004.
The Human Rights Act recognises a number of rights and sets out a framework to balance and protect the rights of Canberrans. The 20 broad civil and political rights set out in part 3 of the act are substantially based on those recognised by the international community in the adoption and ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These rights, to be enjoyed without discrimination or distinction of any kind, include the right to freedom of expression and the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief.
At this point is worth highlighting that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is quite explicit that the right to freedom of expression and the freedom to hold opinions is not an unfettered right. The convention states that the exercise of these rights carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It goes on to
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