Honour our faith in freedom of expression DEAN SMITH THE AUSTRALIAN JANUARY 13, 2015 IT’S a testimony to the maturity of Australian democracy that the Paris terrorist attacks received strong bipartisan condemnation. Tony Abbott’s defence of free speech as the cornerstone of our progress was met by Bill Shorten’s talk of solidarity between the citizens of Australia and France. But what about when the impromptu Charlie Hebdo posters are gone, the crowds of shock and awe disperse, the tributes of flowers are removed, the last name is entered into the condolence books and the Twittersphere tweets to a new sujet du jour? Surely we can offer the citizens of France an abiding tribute to their cherished principle of freedom of expression and a defiant rebuttal to the barbarism that characterised this latest cowardly act. I think we can. What is proposed will be a test of the bipartisanship we have witnessed and an unparalleled expression of our solidarity, friendship and sympathy. As a tribute and defiant rebuttal we should change our laws to allow for greater freedom of speech, expression and opinion. Before the parliament is a Private Senators Bill — the Racial Discrimination Amendment Bill 2014 — which better protects our freedom of expression by amending section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1995 by removing the words ‘‘offend’’ and ‘‘insult’’. Section 18C makes unlawful acts that may offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person because of race, colour or national or ethnic origin. If our political class were to rise above partisan politics and build a legislative monument to the human price paid by France for its defence of freedom of expression by voting for the Racial Discrimination Amendment Bill 2014 they would find themselves in esteemed company. They would join the Chief Justice of the High Court, Justice Robert French, who noted in 2004 that the words ‘‘offend’’ and ‘‘insult’’ were a long way removed from the “mischief” of which Article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the “evils” to which Part IIA of the Racial Discrimination Act 1995 were directed. They would be in the company of the director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law at Monash University, Sarah Joseph, who has said prohibitions on what offends and insults “go too far” and that “feelings of offence and insult are not serious enough to justify restrictions on the human right to freedom of speech”. They could even call on the public statements of Julian Burnside who has said “the mere fact that you insult or offend someone probably should not, of itself, give rise to legal liability”. He has agreed “finetuning” of 18C would “probably be OK”. By agreeing to remove the words ‘‘offend’’ and ‘‘insult’’ our parliament will have kept the protections against ‘‘humiliate’’ and ‘‘intimidate’’. There is no homage too large for the suffering, loss and fear experienced by our French friends. The freedom of opinion and expression stands first among equals and its intrinsic worth is in its proximity to other liberties like the rights to freedom of association, assembly, thought, conscience and religion. The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression described it as a beacon for the “indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights … the effective enjoyment of this right is an important indicator with respect to the protection of other human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Of course our approach in exercising this expanded freedom will have a distinctively Australian character. I doubt very much Australia has the stomach and taste for the consciously offensive humour styled by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Many would defend its raison d’etre for pushing the boundaries of free speech but find its relentless lampooning of all faiths, celebrities and politicians tasteless in equal measure. Our leaders have read the mood with precision and Tony Abbott is right to remind us to be prepared to “speak up for our beliefs” and to “call things as we see them”. It is now time to crown our words of vigilance with a deed. We should honour our faith in freedom of expression by joining in bipartisanship to build a lasting and enduring legacy to the courage shown in facing up to the barbarism of Paris’s modern reign of terror by strengthening our own freedoms by removing the words ‘‘offend’’ and “insult’’ from the Racial Discrimination Act 1995. Dean Smith is a Liberal senator from Western Australia and chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 01:59:13 +0000
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