The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) has commenter on the announcement by Attorney-General George Brandis QC of a parliamentary inquiry into freedom of speech, including sections 18C and 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) and how the Australian Human Right Commission (the Commission) handles complaints.
Federal Attorney-General George Brandis QC will be the keynote speaker at the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Free Speech 2014 Symposium, to be held in Sydney next month.
The Abbott Government is committed to repealing Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. This sensitive topic was the subject of two important exchanges in parliament today...in the Senate, Attorney-General Senator George Brandis declared that "people have a right to be bigots" and in the House of Representatives Prime Minister Tony Abbott said: "Sometimes free speech will be speech which upsets people".
Attorney-General Senator George Brandis has held two meetings with representatives from various ethnic communities regarding the reviews of Section C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
In the wake of Federal Attorney-General George Brandis's announcement that the government is planning to water down sections of the Racial Discrimination Act, ten highly significant ethnic communities have united to protest against the move.
