edited
7th Apr 2017
Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 - Second Reading - Agree with bill's main idea
Passed by a small majority
No rebellions 81% attendance
30th Mar 2017, 10:04 PM – Senate Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 - in Committee - Change 18C wording
Summary
EditThe majority voted against Government amendments introduced by Liberal Party Senator George Brandis. The amendments related to amending section 18C.
Senator Brandis explained that: "The purpose of this amendment is to clarify the meanings of the words 'intimidate' and 'harass' in section 18C as it would appear, assuming the bill is passed."
Read more on ABC News.
Motion text
(1) Schedule 1, page 3 (after line 25), after item 4, insert:
4A Before subsection 18C(3)
Insert:
(2C) For the purposes of subsection (1), if an act done by a person consists of:
(a) making a statement; or
(b) making a comment; or
(c) making a remark;
(whether orally, in a document or in any other way), then the making of the statement, comment or remark may be reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to harass another person, even if the statement, comment or remark is not made in the presence of the other person.
(2D) For the purposes of subsection (1), if an act done by a person consists of:
(a) making a statement; or
(b) making a comment; or
(c) making a remark;
(whether orally, in a document or in any other way), then the making of the statement, comment or remark may be reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to harass a group of people, even if the statement, comment or remark is not made in the presence of one or more members of that group.
What does this bill do?
The bill was introduced to:
- amend section 18C, which prohibits offensive behaviour based on racial hatred, to replace the words ‘offend’, ‘insult’ and ‘humiliate’ with ‘harass’ (resulting in the formulation ‘harass or intimidate’); and
- provide that an assessment of whether an act is reasonably likely to harass or intimidate a person or group of persons is made against the standard of a reasonable member of the Australian community.
But as you can see from this division, this change to the wording of section 18C is controversial and there is a lot of opposition to it.
According to the explanatory memorandum, the bill would also:
amend the complaints handling processes of the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (the AHRC Act) and ... make minor amendments to the AHRC Act sought by the Commission to enhance its operation and efficiency
Votes Not passed by a small majority
Nobody rebelled against their party.
| Party | Votes | |
|---|---|---|
| Cory Bernardi SA Australian Conservatives | No | |
| Australian Greens (78% turnout) | 0 Yes – 7 No | |
| Sarah Hanson-Young SA | No | |
| Scott Ludlam WA | No | |
| Nick McKim Tasmania | No | |
| Lee Rhiannon NSW | No | |
| Janet Rice Victoria | No | |
| Rachel Siewert WA | No | |
| Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania | No | |
| Richard Di Natale Victoria | Absent | |
| Larissa Waters Queensland | Absent | |
| Australian Labor Party (76% turnout) | 0 Yes – 19 No | |
| Catryna Bilyk Tasmania | No | |
| Kim Carr Victoria | No | |
| Anthony Chisholm Queensland | No | |
| Jacinta Collins Victoria | No | |
| Patrick Dodson WA | No | |
| Don Farrell SA | No | |
| Alex Gallacher SA | No | |
| Katy Gallagher ACT | No | |
| Chris Ketter Queensland | No | |
| Sue Lines WA | No | |
| Jenny McAllister NSW | No | |
| Malarndirri McCarthy NT | No | |
| Claire Moore Queensland | No | |
| Helen Polley Tasmania | No | |
| Louise Pratt WA | No | |
| Lisa Singh Tasmania | No | |
| Glenn Sterle WA | No | |
| Anne Urquhart Tasmania | No | |
| Penny Wong SA | No | |
| Carol Brown Tasmania | Absent | |
| Doug Cameron NSW | Absent | |
| Sam Dastyari NSW | Absent | |
| Kimberley Kitching Victoria | Absent | |
| Gavin Marshall Victoria | Absent | |
| Deborah O'Neill NSW | Absent | |
| Murray Watt Queensland | Absent | |
| Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party | Yes | |
| Derryn Hinch Victoria Derryn Hinch's Justice Party | Yes | |
| Gavin Marshall Victoria Deputy President | No | |
| Sue Lines WA Deputy President | Absent | |
| Jacqui Lambie Tasmania Independent | No | |
| David Leyonhjelm NSW Liberal Democratic Party | Absent | |
| Liberal National Party (50% turnout) | 1 Yes – 0 No | |
| James McGrath Queensland | Yes | |
| Matthew Canavan Queensland | Absent | |
| Liberal Party (71% turnout) | 15 Yes – 0 No | |
| Eric Abetz Tasmania | Yes | |
| Christopher Back WA | Yes | |
| George Brandis Queensland | Yes | |
| David Bushby Tasmania | Yes | |
| Mathias Cormann WA | Yes | |
| Jonathon Duniam Tasmania | Yes | |
| David Fawcett SA | Yes | |
| Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW | Yes | |
| Mitch Fifield Victoria | Yes | |
| Jane Hume Victoria | Yes | |
| James Paterson Victoria | Yes | |
| Marise Payne NSW | Yes | |
| Linda Reynolds WA | Yes | |
| Zed Seselja ACT | Yes | |
| Dean Smith WA | Yes | |
| Simon Birmingham SA | Absent | |
| Michaelia Cash WA | Absent | |
| Ian Macdonald Queensland | Absent | |
| Anne Ruston SA | Absent | |
| Scott Ryan Victoria | Absent | |
| Arthur Sinodinos NSW | Absent | |
| National Party (75% turnout) | 3 Yes – 0 No | |
| Bridget McKenzie Victoria | Yes | |
| Barry O'Sullivan Queensland | Yes | |
| John Williams NSW | Yes | |
| Fiona Nash NSW | Absent | |
| Nick Xenophon Team (100% turnout) | 0 Yes – 3 No | |
| Stirling Griff SA | No | |
| Skye Kakoschke-Moore SA | No | |
| Nick Xenophon SA | No | |
| Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party (75% turnout) | 0 Yes – 3 No | |
| Peter Georgiou WA | No | |
| Pauline Hanson Queensland | No | |
| Malcolm Roberts Queensland | No | |
| Brian Burston NSW | Absent | |
| Stephen Parry Tasmania President | Yes | |
| Totals (76% turnout) | 22 Yes – 35 No |
Turnout is the percentage of members eligible to vote that did vote.