Extract from The Guardian website:
Liberal party’s first Indigenous lower house MP warns that he might cross the floor to vote against the legislation
Tony Abbott faces an internal backlash over his plans to amend the
Racial Discrimination Act, with the Liberal party’s first Indigenous
lower house member, Ken Wyatt, warning that he might cross the floor to
vote against the legislation.
Another Coalition MP, Ewen Jones, told his colleagues at a joint Liberal and National party meeting on Tuesday that the government must be careful about the optics of the proposal and ensure it did not appear too ideological.
Abbott promised before the election to amend the Racial Discrimination Act in the interests of upholding free speech.
Unhappy with a 2011 federal court ruling about articles by the conservative commentator Andrew Bolt, the Coalition vowed to repeal section 18C in its current form. The section makes it unlawful to “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate” a person or group because of their “race, colour or national or ethnic origin”.
The internal concerns came as community groups warned the government against pursuing “morally repugnant” changes to racial discrimination laws, arguing Australia’s national interests were being sacrificed to score points in the “culture wars”.
In a blistering joint statement issued on Tuesday, representatives of the Indigenous, Greek, Jewish, Chinese, Arab, Armenian and Korean communities vowed to step up their campaign against amendments that would “license the public humiliation of people because of their race”.
It is understood Wyatt, Jones and other Coalition MPs David Coleman, Craig Laundy, Alex Hawke, George Christensen and Ian Macdonald offered their views on the issue at the private meeting of Liberal and National members on Tuesday.
Guardian Australia understands that Wyatt made a “very forceful” contribution which left open the option of crossing the floor to vote against the possible changes. It is understood he said he had lost friends and people close to him over racism.
Several MPs called on the government to make sure it handled the issue sensitively and noted that ethnic groups were worried about changes.
But one MP countered: “Freedom of speech is a God-given right; if we don’t allow things we don’t want to hear then we don’t believe in freedom.”
Jones told Guardian Australia: “As a middle-aged white man I have never experienced any form of discrimination. From my perspective I could be high about this and say it shouldn’t matter, but I’ve never experienced that and I think we should be very aware of listening to opinions of people who have experienced it.”
Abbott sought to emphasise the common ground between his colleagues.
“Everyone in this room believes in freedom of speech, everyone in the room is against racism, everyone in this room thinks Andrew Bolt should not have been prosecuted,” the prime minister told Coalition MPs.
Abbott observed that there had been a very exhaustive process of consultation and the party needed to reconcile the three points of views. He went on to praise long serving member Philip Ruddock for transforming the relationship between the Coalition and areas of the Australian community, referring to ethnic groups.
“We are the right party to represent a diverse country,” Abbott said.
The government is yet to release legislation showing the extent of proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act. Labor and the Greens, which retain the power to block legislation in the Senate until July, have argued against the need for the change.
A federal court judge in 2011 found that Bolt breached part 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act by publishing newspaper articles that questioned the motivations of fair-skinned people who identified as Aboriginal.
Concerned about the federal court ruling, the Coalition promised to repeal section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act in its current form.
Another Coalition MP, Ewen Jones, told his colleagues at a joint Liberal and National party meeting on Tuesday that the government must be careful about the optics of the proposal and ensure it did not appear too ideological.
Abbott promised before the election to amend the Racial Discrimination Act in the interests of upholding free speech.
Unhappy with a 2011 federal court ruling about articles by the conservative commentator Andrew Bolt, the Coalition vowed to repeal section 18C in its current form. The section makes it unlawful to “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate” a person or group because of their “race, colour or national or ethnic origin”.
The internal concerns came as community groups warned the government against pursuing “morally repugnant” changes to racial discrimination laws, arguing Australia’s national interests were being sacrificed to score points in the “culture wars”.
In a blistering joint statement issued on Tuesday, representatives of the Indigenous, Greek, Jewish, Chinese, Arab, Armenian and Korean communities vowed to step up their campaign against amendments that would “license the public humiliation of people because of their race”.
It is understood Wyatt, Jones and other Coalition MPs David Coleman, Craig Laundy, Alex Hawke, George Christensen and Ian Macdonald offered their views on the issue at the private meeting of Liberal and National members on Tuesday.
Guardian Australia understands that Wyatt made a “very forceful” contribution which left open the option of crossing the floor to vote against the possible changes. It is understood he said he had lost friends and people close to him over racism.
Several MPs called on the government to make sure it handled the issue sensitively and noted that ethnic groups were worried about changes.
But one MP countered: “Freedom of speech is a God-given right; if we don’t allow things we don’t want to hear then we don’t believe in freedom.”
Jones told Guardian Australia: “As a middle-aged white man I have never experienced any form of discrimination. From my perspective I could be high about this and say it shouldn’t matter, but I’ve never experienced that and I think we should be very aware of listening to opinions of people who have experienced it.”
Abbott sought to emphasise the common ground between his colleagues.
“Everyone in this room believes in freedom of speech, everyone in the room is against racism, everyone in this room thinks Andrew Bolt should not have been prosecuted,” the prime minister told Coalition MPs.
Abbott observed that there had been a very exhaustive process of consultation and the party needed to reconcile the three points of views. He went on to praise long serving member Philip Ruddock for transforming the relationship between the Coalition and areas of the Australian community, referring to ethnic groups.
“We are the right party to represent a diverse country,” Abbott said.
The government is yet to release legislation showing the extent of proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act. Labor and the Greens, which retain the power to block legislation in the Senate until July, have argued against the need for the change.
A federal court judge in 2011 found that Bolt breached part 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act by publishing newspaper articles that questioned the motivations of fair-skinned people who identified as Aboriginal.
Concerned about the federal court ruling, the Coalition promised to repeal section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act in its current form.
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