The Turnbull government's proposed changes to Australia's race-hate laws risk opening the floodgates on racism and creating legal confusion, ethnic and cultural groups have warned.
Race discrimination commissioner Tim Soutphommasane led the charge against the "extremely disappointing" changes, which he said would signal that racism was socially acceptable.
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18C: stronger or weaker?
Malcolm Turnbull says he's strengthening the Racial Discrimination Act, Labor says the government is weakening it.
"I still don't understand what it is that people want to say that they currently are not already allowed to say," he told Fairfax Media. "It signals to people that it's acceptable to racially offend, insult, and humiliate others."
Dr Soutphommasane said the deletion of "insult", "offend" and "humiliate" and the introduction of a new term, "harass", would create confusion and lead to "more litigation, not less" because it would render irrelevant 20 years of case law.
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"We don't know what the meaning of that word will be until courts consider it," he said. "This is not speculation, this is based on the history of how the laws operated."
On that point, he was in agreement with the libertarian Institute of Public Affairs. Executive director John Roskam warned the definition of harassment was "mired in uncertainty, and said only the full repeal of section 18C would preserve free speech".
"Nonetheless, the legislation has been significantly improved," he said. "The Turnbull government can now be on the front foot on freedom."
Peter Wertheim, director of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said Mr Turnbull was incorrect to assert the new laws would better protect minorities from racial discrimination.
He said there would be a "concerted effort" from cultural groups to convince crossbench senators to block the proposed changes.
"It's not a big deal for most people, but for members of minority groups who have been on the receiving end of some very ugly forms of racial discrimination … it could be very significant," he said. "I think it could be a vote-changing issue federally."
Multicultural groups also reacted with disappointment. A letter co-signed by peak groups that form the Coalition to Advance Multiculturism, described the decision as "utterly shameful and at odds with the principles of multicultural Australia".
"We will oppose this latest attempt to amend Section 18C with all the energy and resources at our collective disposal," the letter, released within hours of the government's announcement, read.
"We regard the argument in favour of weakening the legislation to be without substance. There is no evidence to suggest that the existing legislation impedes freedom of speech. If the government was genuine about freedom of speech, why the deafening silence on the many other pieces and legislation and areas of policy which severely restrict freedom of speech and other civil liberties?
"Racial and religious vilification violates the dignity of Australians, inhibits their ability to participate in Australian communal life, and severely damages the social fabric, which is the indispensable bedrock on which are built our freedoms and civil liberties."
President of the Chinese Australian Forum Kenrick Cheah said the group planned on making the amendments an election issue.
"Look at the demographics of Sydney, for example – there are a lot of seats out there which have very vocal multicultural communities," he said.
"I don't think any multicultural communities have stood up for the changes – especially in marginal seats like Reid, Banks etc where, it is quite important that either side harness the multicultural vote – I can't see how this is going to help anyone get votes from those communities."
Randa Kattan, the Arab Council Australia CEO, said the government was sending a "dangerous signal that it is OK to insult somebody" to a community "that faces the brunt of racism almost on a daily basis, if not on a minute-by-minute basis".
"This is actually a slap in the face to all communities who are facing racism out there, who are feeling, who are at the receiving end of daily harassment," she said.
"We only have to say something and you only have to watch social media to see how much hatred there is out there, so for the government, the highest power to come out and start talking about watering down an act that protects people on something they can't change in themselves - they can't change their race, they can't change their ethnicity, they can't change who they are - that is extremely dangerous and extremely problematic."