October 22, 2015
The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has welcomed the announcement in Parliament by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that the government has no plans to change section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. The Prime Minister also noted that he concurs with British Prime Minister David Cameron that, “when we talk about extremist violence or violent extremism, terrorism, we have to remember that it has its beginnings in extremist language, in hateful language that seeks to set one group against another. So these are important matters of dealing with these balances of security and speech.”
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC, issued the following statement:
“We welcome the Prime Minister’s assurance that his government does not intend to revisit this issue and will not be changing section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA). During the debate last year about a proposed watering down or repeal of the racial vilification protections in the RDA, The ADC, along with a broad coalition of organisations, vigorously argued for the retention of 18C, contending that it has long played a key role in this struggle. We noted that through our work we have found that strong racial vilification laws are an essential, effective and necessary tool in addressing and combatting the unique harm caused by bias-motivated hate speech and that amending or rescinding section 18C would have sent the wrong message. We are heartened that the Prime Minister has assured the Australian people that 18C, which is vital to safeguarding individuals and communities in the rich fabric of our multicultural nation, will not be diminished or diluted.”
For more information, please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on 03 9272 5677