Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and his "shadow", Michaelia Cash, are both volatile characters. When they met this week to discuss the government's draft religious discrimination bill, an incendiary issue in the best of circumstances, sparks flew.
From the government's point of view, there's little to be gained by attempting to breathe fresh life into this legislation. At next year's election, the prime minister can tell the faith communities "well, I tried, but the Coalition wouldn't agree". The prime minister has said the government will not publicise its plans for religious discrimination laws until the Coalition agrees.The opposition says it will wait for the details before it declares its position. However, Dutton – who a few months ago said the government should investigate whether stronger laws were needed – was cautious about the issue at this week's Coalition parties meeting. There would be resistance to the move within the opposition.
When we consider the desirability of federal hate speech legislation, we quickly run into the freedom-of-speech conundrum. Dreyfus replied he did not provide legal advice. He then referred them to Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which provides a civil remedy for a public act found likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate on the grounds of race.
She says the existing federal criminal code sections were originally introduced as counter-terrorism measures. "If what the government means to do is remove those provisions and instead have a criminal hate speech law, that might be helpful. Otherwise, they might be introducing more confusion," she says.
From deep beneath Gaza, the Hamas mastermind of October 7 is apparently in contact with an Israeli journalist
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: 9NewsAUS - 🏆 10. / 72 Read more »