There is a very good reason to launch my own personal political blog right now: The Federal Parliamentary enquiry into Free Speech and section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
Here’s my submission:
Dear Committee Secretary
I am writing to formally submit to the Committee that Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act must be repealed in its entirety.
In considering my submission I was reminded of a story shared by my mother. When she was a young girl, she grew up in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia, in the Pingelly and Boddington area. She caught the school bus with many of the local children, both Aboriginal and white. One day she saw a little Aboriginal boy staring at her. The boy’s big sister turned down to him and whispered, “don’t worry, they are just as good as we are”.
The anecdote underlines the difficulty we all experience to live with each other. To overcome our prejudices and perceptions of others who are ‘not like us’.
What makes Australia great is that we are a Nation of welcoming and tolerant people, just like the little Aboriginal girl on the bus. We are eager to give a fair go to anyone. But what makes Australia even greater, is that our people do this by choice.
We don’t need laws and Government to regulate what we think. Being able to speak openly and honestly is central to what it means to be Australian.
Australia is a magnet for people fleeing societies where being able to speak freely is forbidden. We must maintain this status by repealing 18C.
Australians must be able to speak about political matters, including matters of race, without fear that we may be charged for upsetting the feelings of another.
The definition of offend in the Macquarie dictionary is ‘to irritate in mind of feeling; cause resentful displeasure in’. In a free society, we must be able to challenge ideas, even if feelings may be hurt.
The role of law in Australia should be to remedy actual harm – physical, tangible, economic and the like. Unfortunately ‘hurt feelings’ are part of the human experience. Whilst unpleasant and undesirable, and the causes to be actively discouraged in our civil society, they should not be outlawed. On balance, the loss of free speech is too great to bear.
The Australian character is strong. This should be our aspiration. We must teach children to dismiss the words that hurt them, and to rise above, fight back and win the battle of ideas. Not to retreat with hurt feelings, and rely on laws or ‘the Government’ to stop the (alleged) cause of their emotional pain.
Resilience is another aspect of the strong Australian character. Building resilience is a better means to reduce anxiety, than to pursue legal action against the person who inflicted the perceived offence (which may actually cause more anxiety).
People must be free to express what they think. They must not be prevented from expressing a thought or idea by threat of being judged a racist. The best way to combat racism is to bring it in to the open, and expose it as harmful and hurtful.
Expressing a (potentially perceived as racist) thought that “segregation should not be stopped with segregation” is an idea worthy of debate. There is no worth in silencing an idea. The value for society is in the examination and contention of the idea.
To have a law that is applied;
- When a person is expressing a thought that wasn’t intended to be racist or offensive
- That relies on the interpretation and/or perception of offence in the recipient (not the intent of the person who expressed it)
Is an entirely inappropriate law.
I contend that the people of Australia should aspire to a character that is strong, resilient and tolerant, and that this is best achieved within our communities and civil society, not by force of law.
I submit to the Committee that Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act must be repealed in its entirety.
Yours sincerely
Sandra Brewer