The Australian government must maintain strong and effective prohibitions against racial vilification. Sections 18C and 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act have a vital role to play in stopping the spread of racial hatred and discrimination in our community. They set important standards that discourage racism and encourage people to speak out, and they provide an avenue for relief to those who are vilified. Weakening these laws now would give a green light to racism.
'Free speech', its need and its putative demise, garnered extensive media coverage in the latter part of 2011 and early 2012. Critics of the Leveson Inquiry in the United Kingdom warned that free speech was at stake if the government decided to regulate the press - as if hacking the voice mail of a missing schoolgirl constituted free speech. Andrew Bolt in his address to the media immediately following his guilty verdict for breaching the…
