James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) | Hansard source

I'm reading a book at the moment called The Gravediggers: The Last Winter of the Weimar Republic. It's quite a depressing read, when you look at those democrats in that nation's democracy who were trying to defend freedoms—in particular, the freedom of political expression—and what they were up against.

By no means am I saying that Australia or any other liberal democracies are heading down the path of the Weimar Republic. What is of concern is how the Left create prisons for words, but they only create those prisons for words they don't like. They prefer to have a half freedom of speech. If you agree with the Left, or the Left agree with the policy position you take, the Left are fine with you. You're allowed to have that freedom of speech. But if they don't like you politically and they don't like your argument, then they try to stop you expressing your view.

I don't like the Greens political party. I don't like most, if not all, of their policies, but I think they have a right to express those views in a liberal democracy. I don't like the Labor Party, but members of the Labor Party have a right to express their views. The danger in Australia at the moment is that the left side of politics, particularly the Labor Party and the Greens political party, don't reciprocate that view. What will be interesting, Senator Hanson and Senator Roberts, will not be those who vote for this motion; what will be interesting today will be those who don't vote for this motion. I think that will tell Australians of the political positions of the Labor Party and the Greens when it comes to freedom of speech.

That should send a worrying signal to those who take a very libertarian approach to freedom of speech. It should send a worrying signal to those who sit around the cabinet table and those who sit in the darkened rooms in this building and do their deals. We all know that the Labor Party like to get up here and talk a big talk about how much they don't like the Greens, but they'll do a preference deal for the next federal election. Mark my words, the Labor Party and the Greens will sit down and they will swap preferences. This coming federal election will be a real test of where the Labor Party sees itself going as a political organisation but also of how they're going to get into bed with the Greens political party.

The Greens political party are an extremist political party. We've seen that in Queensland. When I talk about freedom of speech, I want to talk about the hatred that some Australians are expressing towards other Australians and, in particular, the antisemitism of some of those in our political discourse who are spreading vile, hateful messages about their fellow Australians. The Greens party are up to their necks in it. We just have to look at the conduct of some Greens politicians at the University of Queensland.

We just have to look at the fact that university students in modern Australia today are afraid to express their views within institutions that should be the very beacon of freedom of speech. If you are a Jewish university student, not only are you afraid to express your views in terms of freedom of speech, but—sadly, under the left-wing discourse that is taking over Australia—also you're frightened to express your religion. It should bring shame to all Australians that one group—regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender or whatever it is—are afraid not only to express who they are and the god they pray to but also to express their political views more generally.

This is happening not in some book that I'm reading, based on the dying days on the Weimar Republic. It is happening in a suburb called St Lucia in Brisbane, where the University of Queensland is based. It is also happening on every other university campus across this country. A special place in hell should be reserved for those vice-chancellors on million-dollar packages who are refusing to stand up for freedom of speech and, instead, are bowing down to the sickening mob rule of the far left. This is what we're seeing. At universities, if you are far left or if you are supporting a terrorist organisation—as we've seen in recent news articles—you're allowed, you're almost encouraged, to express those views—

I'll come to the war memorial shortly—and to push out that despicable, disgusting nonsense. The rest of us, who don't share those views, are instead cowed into silence like those in other countries.

My colleague Senator Cadell has mentioned the attack on part of our war memorial. This is where Australia is at the moment. It's at a crossroads. We have a group of far-left extremists who think it is perfectly acceptable to desecrate a memorial to those men—and it was men in this instance—who gave their all in order to defend the freedoms that these left-wing Nazis are taking for granted. I want everyone to think about that for a moment. Young men went over to Korea to fight against the scourge of communism, to fight so that the people of Korea could have the freedoms that the people of Australia have. Those men gave their lives. Yet, the memorial to their sacrifice is vandalised.

There is a cancer eating away at the heart of Australian society. When you forget where you come from and when you forget what brought you to a particular point in time, you forget where you are going. Australia is one of the world's oldest democracies and one of the world's most boisterous democracies. You only have to look at the full fruit salad of views that are on display in this chamber on a daily basis to see that. For Australia to stand by and see war memorials desecrated and for Australia to stand by and see universities—which, in their own way, are sacred as places of learning—become bastardised, with university students afraid to express their views, you have to question what is going on in our society. You have to question why this is so.

The coalition will be supporting this motion because we believe in freedom of speech. It's as simple as that. If you believe in freedom of speech, you should not have any concerns or worries about freedom of speech. This motion that has been moved by the One Nation senators is about asking one of the Senate committees to inquire into whether a referendum is needed in Australia to insert the right to free speech into the Constitution. This is about freedom of speech being referred to a Senate committee. It should not be controversial. This should not have the Labor Party and the Greens and the other left-wing senators in this place against it.