from chris kenny today
Simply dishonest: Labor talking complete rot over 18C reforms
We need to call out the cynical way in which Labor and the Greens are seeking to use the section 18C issue to inflame divisive, race-based debate for political purposes.
They are deliberately misrepresenting the aims of the proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act as somehow giving a green light to racism. This is dishonest and irresponsible.
“As someone who has been subjected to racism time and time again — as I was growing up, and even in my life now — please give me an answer: what exactly does the Prime Minister want people to be able to say that they cannot say now?” asked Labor’s Anne Aly.
“PM, what changed between then and now, what insults do you want people to be allowed to say?” asked Bill Shorten.
Shorten and Aly know the proposed changes will keep section 18C on the statute books so racial vilification will still be outlawed in this nation under federal law. They know the reforms proposed by the government aim only to prevent the repetition of clear cases of overreach against free speech.
The reforms proposed by Malcolm Turnbull aim to eradicate authoritarian overreach against individuals in a free society. They aim to limit instances of unfair and unwarranted institutional intrusions into people’s lives. Yet Labor and the Greens seek to portray this as unleashing some racist dystopia in our country. They must have an extremely low opinion of mainstream Australians. They must think people in the suburbs and regions are champing at the bit to throw off the shackles of a few words in a piece of legislation so that they can launch racist abuse at their neighbours. What rot.
The greatest weapon and most consistently effective measure in combating racism is the daily imposition of reasonable standards by the overwhelming majority of tolerant, fair-minded people in their daily lives. No change to the law will change this reality. A more sensible limit on the intrusions of the Australian Human Rights Commission can only be seen as a vote of faith in the good sense of the public.
Perversely, many members of the media have joined Labor and the Greens in their opposition to these reforms. This is astounding behaviour from journalists who would be expected to show a bias in favour of free speech. But then we shouldn’t be surprised. So partisan have many of them become they supported Labor and the Greens five years ago when they proposed de facto regulation of print media content.
If Turnbull’s amendments are passed, racial vilification will still be against the law. Shorten and Aly know this — why do they pretend otherwise? And in the here and now, racial vilification laws do not prevent the racist mutterings of a tiny minority of individuals; they never will.
If the changes are passed by parliament, no one should notice anything. The only ramifications should be to decrease the likelihood of overreach by the AHRC.
When politicians and analysts say the Coalition could lose marginal seats because of this proposal, what they are really saying is Labor will run disingenuous campaigns pretending the government is giving a nod to racism. If Labor runs such deliberately divisive campaigns it will be a lie that puts the Mediscare stunt to shame.
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My query is a simple one.
With the main stream media seemingly ok with being muzzled and the State (both Federal and States) having massive administrative organs that are crushing our freedoms, how exactly can we the people mobilise to push back?
We can't rely upon our votes to necessarily achieve this as too many MP's (including in the Liberal party) are weak in this area (Laundy, Zimmerman et al).
I fear that a backlash is coming and that it will be brutal and it will not be restrained which will in the short term allow the ALP to crush our freedoms even more.
Thoughts and suggestions are most welcome
*they should have stood up for free speech and allowed us to support their stand . Their capitulation hasn't won them any friends in the LGBTIQ community and angered conservatives who would have stood by them