George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

We are very serious about freedom of speech. That is one of the reasons why, quite early in my term as the Attorney-General, I provided a reference to the Australian Law Reform Commission to look into traditional rights and freedoms. In a very important report that they published at the end of last year, which I launched earlier this year, they explored, among other things, by chapter 4, the various ways in which freedom of speech is limited and constrained under Commonwealth law.

This is an issue which we as a Liberal government are always alert to to ensure that we get the balance right. We are absolutely unashamed of being determined defenders of freedom of speech. We are determined defenders of the freedom of speech of people who agree with us and equally determined defenders of the right to freedom of speech of people who disagree with us, because that is what freedom of speech demands.