Senator BRANDIS (Queensland—Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, Vice-President of the Executive Council, Minister for Arts and Attorney-General) (14:21): Thank you very much indeed, Senator Ruston, for your question. I know this is an issue that means a lot to you. The exposure draft, which was released this morning, seeks to address two of the problems with the existing section 18C. The first problem is that, as I said a moment ago to our colleague Senator Di Natale, section 18C in its current form tries to attack racism through political censorship. Political censorship is never the right way to attack a social problem. Political censorship is certainly not the right way to attack racism. So the proposed replacement section for 18C ensures that freedom of speech, freedom of public discussion, is protected. Secondly, the proposed new section, as I said to Senator Di Natale, for the very first time in Commonwealth law creates a prohibition on racial vilification. It does frustrate me, if I may say so, that so much of the discussion in recent months about section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act—it was implicit in the false premise of Senator Peris's question yesterday—has been on the basis— Senator Kim Carr: And that went well, didn't it? Senator Wong: Let's remember who defended the bigots! Senator BRANDIS: I defended people like you, Senator Wong: the intolerant. The PRESIDENT: Senator Brandis, you are not to debate the issue. Address yourself through the chair. Senator Conroy interjecting— Senator Wong interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senators Wong and Conroy! Senator BRANDIS: The discussion proceeded on the false assumption that Australian law—at least the law of this parliament—did make provision for racial vilification and hate speech. In fact it did not. And even the shadow Attorney-General, who should have known better, has serially fallen into that trap. For the first time now, if these amendments are enacted, racial vilification will be specifically prohibited under Commonwealth law.