18C: Gillian Triggs says Human Rights Commission open to Racial Discrimination Act inquiry
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Human Rights Commission President Gillian Triggs has backed proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act, as the Prime Minister prepares to announce a parliamentary inquiry into the legislation.
Key points:
- Professor Triggs said removing the words "insult" and "offend" from Section 18C could strengthen the Act
- Prime Minister's comments that Human Rights Commission wasted taxpayers time and money "deeply misleading", says Professor Triggs
- Malcolm Turnbull expected to announce inquiry into freedom of speech today
Professor Triggs — who is engaged in a public stoush with Malcolm Turnbull over the Commission's handling of complaints — said the Commission was open to the idea of an inquiry particularly if it recommended changes that would strengthen and clarify the Act.
Asked whether she supports the amendment proposed by Coalition MPs to replace the words "insult" and "offend" with "vilify" in Section 18C, Professor Triggs said she would see that as a "strengthening".
"It could be a very useful thing to do," she said.
"There's always ambiguity about what you mean by offending and insulting."
A stoush broke out between Professor Triggs and Mr Turnbull yesterday after the Prime Minister attacked the Commission for "bringing" a controversial racial hatred case against three Queensland University of Technology students.
Mr Turnbull said the Commission had wasted taxpayers' time and money, and had done a great deal of harm to its credibility but the Commission later clarified that it "terminated" the QUT complaint in 2015 and nothing to do with the subsequent court action.
Describing Mr Turnbull's comments as "deeply misleading", Professor Triggs noted she was bound to investigate and conciliate every written complaint the Commission receives and has again called on the Government to raise that threshold.
"We would welcome an attempt to moderate the statute that would make it a little easier for the Commission to say 'these matters are coming to us and we don't think that they've got any real legs at all'," she said.
"We've long argued for this."
Mr Turnbull is today expected to announce an inquiry into freedom of speech, and issues relating to the Racial Discrimination Act, in the wake of the QUT case and similar legal action targeting News Corp cartoonist Bill Leak.
Coalition MPs have long been agitating for changes to Section 18C, arguing it impedes free speech, and believe an inquiry could act as a circuit breaker to the heated and ideological debate surrounding the issue.
The ABC understands the inquiry will be undertaken by the Joint Standing Committee on Human Rights, chaired by Liberal MP Ian Goodenough.
Topics: laws, rights, law-crime-and-justice, race-relations, government-and-politics, federal-government, australia
