Senator BRANDIS (Queensland—Attorney-General, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:10): I always agree with everything the Deputy Prime Minister says. That is not to say, and the Deputy Prime Minister does not say, that this issue is not one the parliament should deal with, as many, many people have said—opinion leaders such as Professor Gillian Triggs, President of the Australian Human Rights Commission; Professor Rosalind Croucher, President of the Australian Law Reform Commission; Professor George Williams; Mr Warren Mundine; and the Hon. Jim Spigelman. Jim Spigelman, for example, made this contribution recently: … declaring conduct, relevantly speech, to be unlawful, because it causes offence, goes too far. The freedom to offend is an integral component of freedom of speech. There is no right not to be offended. … … … None of Australia’s international treaty obligations require us to protect any person or group from being offended. We are, however, obliged— that is, by our international treaty obligations— to protect freedom of speech. The PRESIDENT: Order! Pause the clock. Senator Singh: A point of order, Mr President. I asked whether the minister agrees with the Deputy Prime Minister's quote. The PRESIDENT: Senator Singh, the Attorney-General answered the question quite clearly and distinctly up-front by saying he agreed with everything the Deputy Prime Minister says. The Attorney-General is in order. Senator BRANDIS: Senator Singh, while I do agree with Mr Joyce that this is not the issue at the top of mind for people in the supermarkets and the shopping centres and the workplaces in Australia today, that does not mean that it is not an important issue for the parliament to deal with. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights only 23 days ago delivered a report which proposed certain reforms to the Australian Human Rights Commission Act. I have discussed those proposals with Professor Triggs. She largely agrees with them and has been a very constructive contributor to this process. She has also offered some views of her own, which the government has adopted as to other reforms that might usefully be made. This is useful work for the parliament to do. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Singh, a supplementary question.