Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement) | Hansard source

I wish to make a few short remarks with respect to this motion from Senator Hanson, which I support strongly. As Senator McGrath said, I am the chair of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee. I would welcome with open arms the referral of this important matter to the committee on which I sit, because this is such an important issue. There is no more important freedom than freedom of speech. All the other freedoms flow, essentially, from that basic, core freedom, freedom of speech.

If you come into my office you will see at the entry place a photograph of John Stuart Mill and also a wax carving of Voltaire—my two great heroes, John Stuart Mill and Voltaire. Senator Roberts, in his remarks, made me think about John Stuart Mill and his famous essay 'On liberty'. I recommend that everyone go and read 'On liberty', because it makes the arguments in such an emphatic way. There are a number of reasons freedom of speech is so important. First, it's part of the inherent dignity of each human being, of each individual—our own agency as a human being on the face of this earth. It should be a natural right for everyone to be able to express their own opinion, their own view, in accordance with their own conscience.

Second, as Senator Roberts said, how else but through the free and fair exchange of ideas and thoughts through free speech can we come to any accommodation in places like this place of democracy? How can we engage in that battle of ideas in terms of the future of our country and the future of our communities, unless we can engage in that free exchange of thoughts and ideas? And through that process—and this is the third point that John Stuart Mill made—even if you don't change your own view, you come to better understand why you believe in what you believe, through engaging with the debate. I have engaged in debates where my view has been changed, and that's fantastic as well. That's the power of freedom of speech. Either (a) you get to better understand why you believe in what you believe or (b) you might actually change your view when you hear other perspectives, other points of view and other contributions to a debate.

I want to also make the point—and, again, John Stuart Mill makes this point in his essay 'On liberty'—that it's not just about my freedom to speak; it's also about your freedom to hear. That's the corollary. When we speak, there's another person on the other side of the equation. So if you take away my freedom of speech you're taking away the freedom of others to hear my perspective, to hear my views, to hear my thoughts, to hear my lived experience, my ideas. So it's not just a question of the freedom of the individual who's speaking; it's also about the rights and freedoms of everyone else if they choose to listen to other perspectives, to listen to other ideas, to listen to other thoughts. This is absolutely fundamental to our democracy.

I referred to having a wax sculpture of Voltaire. Well, Voltaire is one of my great heroes. He is a man who actually served prison time in the Bastille in France for expressing his view with respect to society at that point in time. He went to prison on the basis of an expression of a point of view. He also was someone who stood up for minority groups. He stood up for religious minorities. He used satire and humour as an absolute eviscerating tool of debate, and no-one could do it better than Voltaire. He famously said, 'God, if you answer one prayer of mine: make my enemies look ridiculous.' That was his one plea in terms of debate, and he lived that creed. In doing so, he shed light on so many issues in such a humorous, intensely moral way that he is one of those great philosophers of the 18th century who literally changed the course of the world. This is the power of freedom of speech.

As Senator McGrath said, I can't understand why anyone would oppose this referral to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee. I chair the committee. I want the referral. Give it to me and we will look at the status of freedom of speech under our Constitution. We'll look at how it is under attack in various parts of our society. Senator McGrath referred to issues at our universities. There are also issues in the employment sphere, where the division between a person's private life and the discharge of their duties as an employee is increasingly being broken down as people's social media is examined. The sovereignty of the individual is under attack and is being eroded by those who have a total lack of tolerance for the expression of alternative thoughts and alternative ideas.

I say to those who are thinking of voting against this referral: what do you have to fear? I say it for the same reason I believe in freedom of speech. We've got to permit the expression of ideas, of thoughts and of perspectives. We shouldn't fear that; we should welcome it. We should also welcome the referral of this matter to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee.