Less than a week after a range of Liberal backbenchers declared their support in the Senate for a Bill to water down the hate speech protection in section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, Turnbull Government frontbencher, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has revealed her own support for weakening the Act.

Senator Fierravanti-Wells, who as Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs is responsible for fostering community harmony, today made her own suggestion for weakening the provision which has protected Australians from hate speech for twenty years:

“I think the appropriate balance that could be struck in relation to 18C would be to insert an objective ordinary person test into 18C.”

SENATOR FIERRAVANTI-WELLS - SPEECH, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB – 21 OCTOBER 2015

The Liberal Party now has at least three different positions on this issue.

Malcolm Turnbull said in Question Time yesterday:

“…the government does not have any plans to reopen this matter, to reopen consideration of amendments to section 18C.”

MALCOLM TURNBULL - QUESTION TIME - TUESDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2015

Why is his own Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs agitating yet another plan to amend that section?

WEDNESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2015