Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

To facilitate the committee stage while Senator Bernardi is on the phone—he may still have further questions—I can indicate briefly, and consistent with the comments of Labor senators during the second reading debate and indeed our amendment with respect to schedule 1, which we are yet to come to, that Labor opposes all changes to section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, including the offence of harassment. This amendment cannot cure the defects in the government's approach to watering down the longstanding protections against racial hate speech.