Senate debates

Wednesday, 13 May 2020

Motions

Marginalisation of Ethnically Diverse Communities

4:52 pm

Photo of Anne RustonAnne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

The government condemns racism in the strongest possible terms, particularly in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, paragraph (d)(ii) of this motion calls for a charter of rights. This is a proposal that has been publicly debated, and for good reasons, including diminishing democratic decision-making and politicising the judiciary, after full public debate it was roundly rejected. It is not supported by the government, because it is not the best way to protect rights in Australia. The provision further equates racism and visa status, which is an entirely false equivalence. The government also considers paragraph (d)(iii) is incorrect. The paragraph calls for adding hate speech to the Criminal Code. It fails to recognise that sections 80.2A and 80.2B already criminalise the urging of violence against groups and against members of groups. For those reasons, this motion cannot be endorsed.

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