On the eve of Refugee Week, a time when Hobart celebrates its diversity, Greens Alderman Helen Burnet is calling for Hobart City Council to oppose the Abbott Government’s plans to make changes to Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.

“These changes to Section 18C were proposed by Tony Abbott following a 2011 court case in which an article by conservative columnist Andrew Bolt was found to be in breach of this section of the Act.

“The Abbott Government wishes to remove the passage making it unlawful to “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate” others on grounds of race. In its current draft form, this section is replaced with “vilify or intimidate”, with both terms defined so narrowly in a later clause as to only refer to threats of physical violence. Furthermore, the question of what counts as a breach of the act in its redrafted form is “to be determined by the standards of an ordinary reasonable member of the Australian community, not by the standards of any particular group within the Australian community.”

“This raises the question of who is an ordinary reasonable member of the Australian community,” says Alderman Burnet. “Racist comments are felt by the person towards whom they are directed. The language can be very harmful, and watering down this interpretation is not stamping racism out in our communities.”

“Attorney-General George Brandis may believe that ‘People […] have a right to be bigots’ but, this is not a view shared by the majority of Australians,” continues Alderman Burnet.

“These proposed changes have met with outcry from groups across the country, and following a wave of community support, 43 local councils nationwide – representing over 5 million people – have already passed motions resisting changes to the Act. I want Hobart City Council to be among this number. We at the local government level need to combat the language of hate at every opportunity.”

“Hobart has a good track record of welcoming refugees. We are fast becoming a cosmopolitan, multicultural city and I believe that it is in the interests of all our citizens to ensure that we as Tasmania’s capital city add our voice to those against these divisive changes being introduced by the Abbott government.”
Greens Alderman Helen Burnet