Fact Check

Racial offence laws - Right to be bigots - Fact file: What Tony Abbott promised on tax (1x7)

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Is it a crime to offend someone under the Racial Discrimination Act? The claim: Alan Tudge says under the Racial Discrimination Act it can be considered a crime to offend someone. The verdict: Mr Tudge is incorrect. The conduct described in section 18C of the Act is not criminal. "It comes down to: What type of language do you get the police involved and the courts involved with, what type of language should be criminal; versus what type of language is nevertheless unacceptable but should be just dealt with by saying it's unacceptable, pointing it out in no uncertain terms, and I think that sometimes just doing that is a better way to deal with it." Offending someone under the Racial Discrimination Act is not a crime. Attorney-General George Brandis recently released draft amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act. The proposed changes continue to attract robust public debate, in particular those relating to section 18C. Section 18C deals with the prohibition of "offensive behaviour", and includes offending, insulting, humiliating and intimidating others on the basis of race, colour or national or ethnic origin. In defence of the Government's proposed amendments, Alan Tudge, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, told the ABC's News Breakfast he believes the main problem with the current Racial Discrimination Act is that it makes a subjective action, like offending someone, a crime. "When you look at the Act itself... it says that if you offend someone - and it's a subjective measure so if you're personally offended - even though many people may not have thought it was offensive language, then it can be considered a crime," Mr Tudge said. -- Attorney-General George Brandis ill-informed on people's 'right to be bigots' The claim: Attorney-General George Brandis says people have a right to be bigots and to say things that other people find offensive. The verdict: Senator Brandis's view is ill-informed. There are many laws i