Another Liberal has thrown their support behind the watering down of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, with WA Senator Dean Smith now co-sponsoring the Bill.

This comes as the Abbott Government refuses to rule out even more Coalition Senators supporting Cory Bernardi’s plans to remove important protections in Section 18C during Question Time today.

Now, more than ever, we need community harmony – every politician has a responsibility to promote inclusion and respect.

Communities around Australia have made their views clear. Section 18C has served Australians well for almost 20 years and should not be watered down.

The Coalition should join with Labor and rule out supporting this divisive and damaging legislation.

And the Prime Minister should bring his radical Senators into line. It’s a disgrace that Liberals are trying to revive the right to be a bigot.

This shows once again that the Abbott Government cannot be trusted to preserve the protections against racist hate speech.

Labor will fight any move to weaken protections against racist hate speech and the Abbott Government must rule out any support for changes to Section 18C.

THURSDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2014