Saturday Magazine

10 Apr 2014

Proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act ignite rage

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Proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act ignite rage

The proposed changes to Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act have have been dividing opinions all over over the country. While some see the move as crucial to preserving free speech, others ask why racism needs protection under the law.

In this edition of Saturday Magazine, Ben Rylan is joined by Jim Bourke for a discussion with Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson. A vocal supporter of repealing Section 18C, the part of the Act that famously saw News Corporation columnist Andrew Bolt taken to court, Mr Wilson defended the draft changes put forward by Attorney-General George Brandis.

While Mr Wilson took issue at a failure to clarify that the repealed section would be replaced with differing legislation (even raising the issue during his appearance on ABC’s Q&A), a wide exemption for comment made in the public course of discussion means that any future instances similar to the Andrew Bolt episode would be legal.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:16 — 86.3MB)

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