Susan Templeman backs Racial Discrimination Act

Conservative senators led by South Australian Liberal Cory Bernardi are pushing for changes to the controversial clause 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.

The section says it is against the law for someone to “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate” another person based upon their race.

The words offend and insult are at the nub of the issue, with some feeling they are too broad and restrict free speech.

However, Ms Templeman said the laws were important to protect Australia’s multi-cultural society.

“It’s disappointing that there are people in Parliament who want to change legislation in order to make it possible to insult or offend other Australians,” she said.

“I think those who support changes to Section 18C should explain what form of abuse they want to be able to state, that is currently not permitted.”

Ms Templeman said respect for people of other races was important.

“We are very fortunate in Australia to have a multicultural society that is one of the strongest in the world, and one of the reasons for that is we put a lot of effort into making sure we respect each other, and the Racial Discrimination Act is a cornerstone of that,” she said.

“It’s strange that when there are so many other things that we should be focused on, this is the priority for a bloc of conservative Senators, in spite of the Prime Minister’s claim that changes to Section 18C are “not a priority” yet still not ruling them out.”