MOTIONS › Marginalisation of Ethnically Diverse Communities
Senator RUSTON (South Australia—Minister for Families and Social Services and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (16:52): I seek leave to make a short statement. The PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute. Senator RUSTON: The government condemns racism in the strongest possible terms, particularly in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, paragraph (d)(ii) of this motion calls for a charter of rights. This is a proposal that has been publicly debated, and for good reasons, including diminishing democratic decision-making and politicising the judiciary, after full public debate it was roundly rejected. It is not supported by the government, because it is not the best way to protect rights in Australia. The provision further equates racism and visa status, which is an entirely false equivalence. The government also considers paragraph (d)(iii) is incorrect. The paragraph calls for adding hate speech to the Criminal Code. It fails to recognise that sections 80.2A and 80.2B already criminalise the urging of violence against groups and against members of groups. For those reasons, this motion cannot be endorsed.