Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Oh, it is true.

The member for Dawson, in his speech this morning, sought to reduce this entire debate to a one-dimensional argument about freedom of speech, and in doing so he made the astounding claim that racism causes no individual harm. All he could muster was less than five minutes of demanding that 18C be repealed, as if somehow that constituted an argument. It is particularly astounding because people like him have never had to hold their child's hand in theirs and explain the tears they are shedding because of the hatred directed at them. They are people who have never had consistently to defend their very existence in this country, despite being productive and high-achieving citizens of Australia. It is a sad indictment of the ability of those members of parliament to represent all Australians if they cannot, or will not, attempt to step outside their own experiences and empathise with the people they represent here.

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