Coalition roars with 18c triumph as nation yawns

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At The Australian:

Malcolm Turnbull has presented his government’s proposed changes to the wording of Australia’s racial vilification laws – and the administration of race-hate claims by the Human Rights Commission – as a defence of free speech.

The Prime Minister said the government was “defending the law by making it clearer” and better protecting Australians by ensuring that mere “slights” and the “taking of offence” no longer triggered section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.

“We are defending Australians from racial vilification by replacing language which has been discredited,” he said. “We are also amending the law so as to ensure that the Human Rights Commission will offer procedural fairness.”

“We need to restore confidence to the Racial Discrimination Act and to the Human Rights Commission’s administration of it.”

Mr Turnbull acknowledged there would be “many critics and opponents” of the move. But he argued the government’s position went to “an issue of values.”

“Free speech is a value at the very core of our party,” he said. “It should be at the core of every party.”

Then how come Alan Joyce is forced to defend himself today against Creepy Pete who is still trying shut down marriage equality debate:

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says he will not be silenced over his support for gay marriage and companies and business leaders had an important role to play in debates on social issues.

Mr Joyce, who was singled out by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, for calling on the federal government to legislate for gay marriage, said Qantas had the right to speak up on social issues in the same way it does on economic policy.

“Qantas (and its CEO) is often called on to speak publicly on issues like company tax, industrial relations and trade. And we do.

“Because these are important issues that ultimately shape what kind of society we live in (which is the point of economics, right?),” Mr Joyce said in an article published on LinkedIn on Tuesday.

“We’re pleased to add marriage equality to that list.”

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Culture wars, man, yawn.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.