Taking the duty of non-interference seriously: internal limits to free speech rights
Sarah Sorial · Research Online (University of Wollongong) · 2015
In 2014, the Australian Federal Attorney General, George Brandis, proposed to repeal section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which makes it unlawful for someone to publicly 'offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate' a person or group of people. He defended the repeal of this section on the grounds that people 'have a right to be bigots.' According to Brandis, this is what protecting free speech ultimately means. In his speech to the Senate, Brandis went on to say: 'in a free country people do have rights to say things that other people find offensive or insulting or bigoted."