Mr ABBOTT (Warringah—Prime Minister) (14:36): Of course, this government is determined to try to ensure that Australia remains a free, fair and tolerant society where bigotry and racism have no place. But we also want this country to be a nation where freedom of speech is enjoyed. Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER: There will be silence on my left! The question has been asked. The Prime Minister has the call. Mr ABBOTT: Sometimes free speech will be speech which upsets people and which offends people. It is in the nature of free speech that sometimes some people will not like it. I do not like what members opposite say quite a lot, but I fully accept their right to say it. Mr Burke: Madam Speaker, I wish to raise a point of order on relevance. The SPEAKER: The answer is entirely within the confines of the question. Mr Burke: Madam Speaker, I have a point of order. The SPEAKER: You have just raised a point of order on relevance. The answer is relevant. Mr Burke: Madam Speaker, I have told you what standing order it is under; I want to raise what the point is. It is clearly irrelevant for the Prime Minister to be defending comments of bigotry in this chamber. This question is about the Attorney defending bigotry. The SPEAKER: The member for Watson will resume his seat. He knows perfectly well that he may not use the standing orders for debate. Mr ABBOTT: Madam Speaker, our freedom and our democracy fundamentally depend upon the right to free speech. Sometimes free speech is something the people who listen to it do not like. That is the truth. This government will do exactly what we said we would do, pre-election. We will do in government exactly what we committed to in opposition. In opposition, before the election, we said that we would repeal section 18C in its current form. That is what we said we would do before the election and that, as the Australian people would expect, is exactly what we are doing after the election. This is a government which keeps its commitments. This is a clear commitment that we made.