The greatest problems that modern Australian governments have is their unexamined notion that problems with electoral popularity and internal discord can be solved by replacing the party leader and not by, just for example, changing the policies and legislation which is making everyone so very upset.
Malcolm Turnbull has been the most recent beneficiary of having to fight a number of battles which he didn't start, doesn't agree with and knows full well he cannot win – stopping marriage equality, banning emissions trading, lessening environmental protection, demonising renewable energy and so on.
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No decision on 18c
The head of the committee investigating whether 18c should to be changed has offered options for the government rather than actual recommendations.
However, one of the dumbest has been the battle over whether Australia's precious freedom of speech is being strangled to death by the onerous restrictions imposed by the Racial Discrimination Act, specifically sections 18C (under which it is illegal to commit an act intended "to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people") and 18D.
This argument has already sapped the energy of former PM Tony Abbott, who failed to achieve his desired changes despite the help of Attorney-General George Brandis. Who can forget his inspirational hectoring of Labor's Penny Wong that "people do have a right to be bigots, you know". Ah, stirring oratory from a great man.
![Malcolm Turnbull responded with platitudes about how this is about "getting the balance right:.](/web/20170429133613im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/n/8/g/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gunswo.png/1488396336767.jpg)
Anyway, the government decided to avoid the matter by instituting a Cross Party Report into Free Speech in order to patch over this bloody internal laceration. However, the bandage has been torn off with the release of their report and that self-inflicted wound is dripping once again.
That's because after reading a number of submissions and considering the issues carefully, the cross-party inquiry has concluded … um, nothing.
They've flagged the options, ranging from leaving things as is to making some changes to the way that the Human Rights Commission deals with complaints through to eliminating the legislation altogether, but all those options were on the table back before the inquiry. So, time well spent!
Turnbull responded with platitudes about how this is about "getting the balance right between a successful multicultural society and the freedom of speech that is fundamental to our democracy", but let's be clear: the people clamouring for change to the legislation aren't the least bit worried about the free and unfettered exchange of ideas in the public sphere.
![Attorney-General Senator George Brandis and Australian Human Rights Commission President Professor Gillian Triggs during ...](/web/20170429133613im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/m/q/j/z/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gunswo.png/1488437806123.jpg)
While there may indeed be a few genuine Voltaires among the advocates for change, the people most loudly yelping about the need to get rid of the laws are typically the same people demanding that groups like Hizb-ut-Tahrir be banned in Australia and that media organisations sack Yassmin Abdel-Magied for being so provocatively Muslim and female in public.
That's because changing 18C and 18D isn't about protecting free speech; it's about making certain kinds of hate speech acceptable.
See, it's remarkably hard to be successfully prosecuted under the Act, not least because there are a hell of a lot of exemptions.
As the legislation makes clear, "Section 18C does not render unlawful anything said or done reasonably and in good faith" in an artistic work, in the course of a discussion or debate, in an academic context, in making a fair and accurate report of a matter of public interest, or making comment on a genuine belief.
Ahhh, but what about poor Andrew Bolt? He stumbled at "fair and accurate report" in his columns about Aboriginal grant recipients being insufficiently Aboriginal, repeating false assertions about the heritage of several of his targets.
What about Bill Leak's cartoons? The Human Right Commission made multiple overtures to Leak to assert that his artistic works were made "in good faith", which he chose to ignore.
What about those QUT students? That was a delay because the AHRC were taking action against the university, not the students, and expected that the matter would be settled.
But the fact is that this isn't a matter which the nation is especially concerned - unlike marriage equality, for example, or action on climate change - and that the more it's discussed, the more harm it does the government.
That's why you could hear the desperation in the voice of Scott Morrison on Wednesday morning as he pointed out that changes to the Racial Discrimination Act "doesn't create one job, doesn't open one business, doesn't give anyone one extra hour. It doesn't make housing more affordable or energy more affordable."
(And that's a fair point, although it's also exciting to learn that the government are apparently looking at ways to give Australians an extra hour. Maybe there's a plan to move the continent further west of the International Date Line? It'll definitely make our regular Perth-Madagascar flights less of an ordeal.)
Morrison knows that there's no way forward on the matter that's going to help the government.
If they change 18C then the government gets to explain to every migrant organisation and cultural group, starting with the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council and swiftly followed by everyone else, why exactly they deliberately opened the way for hate speech to be made legal.
If there is no change to the legislation it's a stone-cold certainty that the government backbenchers whose bonnets are so comprehensively bee-filled about this matter will continue to agitate until they get their way. And it's not like the Coalition needs another issue to fuel their internal culture war.
And once again, it seems insane that we're once again debating whether or not Australia needs to legislate to make it easier for racists to abuse their fellow citizens in public. But here we are.
Get your tickets now for the Double Disillusionists podcast live at Giant Dwarf on Tuesday 7 March with Dom Knight and Andrew P Street joined by special guests Van Badham (The Guardian) and Mark Humphries (SBS's The Feed).
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