JEC Director of Policy and Advocacy, Alastair Lawrie has written an opinion piece for the Law Society Journal:
By introducing a new criminal offence of ‘intentionally inciting racial hatred’ – but only racial hatred – the Government is effectively saying that other forms of hatred are less serious, and do not deserve the same legal response.
Almost half-way into its term, it seems Premier Minns and his government have not been paying enough attention to the growing wave of hatred directed at people because of their sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.
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It’s not only LGBTIQ+ people who will not be protected by the new laws either.
Despite the recent case of Faruqi v Hanson finding some forms of Islamophobia may be considered racial vilification, other types of Islamophobic comments are not. How can we justify extending protections against racist hate speech including anti-semitism, but not ensure Muslim people receive the same protection?
As women continue to die all-too-frequently across the country as a result of violent misogyny, what is the possible rationale for excluding inciting hatred on the basis of sex?
People with disability have also been left out of the current proposal and are still waiting to be protected by the existing Crimes Act offence that makes publicly threatening or inciting violence unlawful – despite the Disability Royal Commission having identified the need for such protections.
