|
|||||
Government announces reforms to Section 18CDear , You are probably aware the government has decided to make amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act and some other acts which would fix some of the problems that have become obvious in recent years, and problems that should have been obvious decades ago. If you listen to ABC radio you may have heard the government has “watered down” the legislation. If you hear that phrase used I suggest you contact them. While they may not like the changes, a much better and more accurate term is “reform”. A little bit of pressure may well change what their journalists write. Often the bias is unconscious, and they will correct it when it is pointed out politely. (If you are in Brisbane you’ll find their contact details here http://www.abc.net.au/radio/brisbane/contact-us/). I’m not entirely happy with the decision taken by the government, but I recognise that they have moved further in the correct direction than any government in the twenty-two-and-a-half years Section 18C has been in existence, and that they will suffer severe criticism from their opponents as a result. Because of that please get personally involved in the debate. Small things, like challenging journalists when they become partisan, politely, using social media, is one way of ensuring that the debate is won. It will be lost if the bullying tactics customarily used by the left are allowed to prevail. So what are the changes? You can read about them here in a media release from the Prime Minister as the bill itself is not available yet.
Apart from being an unreasonable curb on free speech our major complaint was the act was ineffective, and in fact tended to increase any tendency towards racial discrimination by creating in-groups with access to remedies under this legislation, and out-groups, without access. We also argued that any real ills to be “cured” by 18C were already adequately covered by other legislation such as defamation law, and the criminal law, which deal with people as individuals, rather than members of specific groups. And we argued that Section 18C encourages people to contrive to define themselves as victims, in order to gain a benefit, which is bad for their psychological health, and bad for society’s. On the basis of our experience publishing On Line Opinion we also pointed out that the process has become the punishment, and that complaints are often quite trivial. What’s more, the evidence is that the act has in fact had no positive effect on racial abuse. The government’s amendments meet some of our criticisms, but not all. By removing “insult”, “offend” and “humiliate” it means that mere words are not enough to trigger this legislation – “harassment” implies a level of menace which goes beyond merely expressing an opinion, even if in an angry way. That is a huge improvement. Again, by raising the threshold before a complaint can be actioned, it enhances free speech rights, and hopefully ensures that trivial complaints are not entertained, let alone mediated by the commission. The “reasonable person” test makes Section 18C more predictable and reasonable – you will not be judged by the standards of the Sikh taxi driver, but of his passenger; the Aussie equivalent of Lord Denning’s “man on the Clapham Omnibus”. However, the fundamental problem still applies – there is no need to have a separate, race-based act to deal with these issues, and having one perpetuates unnecessary division in society rather than healing it. A secondary problem is that judicial and administrative creep will undoubtedly see the safeguards in the reforms watered down. While ever the AHRC gets to hear these cases there will be plenty of opportunities for motivated bureaucrats to make questionable calls which can only be corrected by court orders. (See the whole course of Gillian Trigg’s conduct to date). And as has already been demonstrated, for example in the Bolt case, activist judges are quite capable of reading legislation broadly so that it accords with their own pre-conceptions rather than the parliament’s. We’re halfway there, only, but the government deserves to be encouraged and supported for getting this far, rather than punished for not going the whole way. If you like what we are doing please either join (click here) or donate (click here). We need your support. Regards
Graham Young 
|
||
|
|||||
 |