Tasmania: Definition of offence in hate speech laws gags freedom of expression
LAST year I sent out a teaching document, prepared by the Australian Catholic Bishops, on the nature of marriage to the Catholic community in Tasmania. For this I was cited by the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner for a possible breach of the Anti-Discrimination Act. I was simply doing my job of ensuring those in the Catholic community understood the Church’s position on marriage and its importance for our society. Christians have been presenting the essentials of this teaching since the very beginnings of the Church. Yet after 2000 years such teaching is now considered by some to be offensive, in such a serious way as to require an agency of the Tasmanian Government to seek to suppress it. I welcome the recent announcement from the Attorney-General that the Government is to amend the Anti-Discrimination Act, in particular to give greater protection for freedom of religion. This will be a significant change. Freedom of speech ... should only be limited for the most serious of reasons