Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Acting Prime Minister. The Acting Prime Minister said yesterday that we are an inclusive and tolerant society. But, today, Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi is co-sponsoring a private member's bill that will give the green light to racist hate speech. How does this action from a Liberal Party senator promote an inclusive and tolerant society?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. What I can do is repeat the assurance given by the Prime Minister on a number of occasions that the government does not propose to proceed with changes to section 18C. That commitment remains in place, and that demonstrates our wish to encourage all Australians to live in tolerance with one another. We need to respect one another's views. We need to acknowledge that there are people in this country who have different views from others, and that should be respected also—and some of those may not necessarily be mainstream views. But the government does not propose to change section 18C.