Litigation - and Free Speech !

Making it a crime to " Offend - Insult someone on the grounds of their race " is a broad brush assault on the free speech principle that we hold so dearly.    It invites a definition of precisely where the line is crossed between words in common use - and those that the most thin skinned in our community find offensive.

Are we going to see people arrested if they refer to others from certain parts of the world as " Wogs " or describe those of Aboriginal ancestry as " Boongs "  ?   When Prince Charles attended school here in Australia he recounts that he was referred to by other students as a " Pommie Bastard ".   He regarded that as a term of affection, but once legislation comes into force a completely new set of standards applies.

If the recipient of a remark takes offense at something another person says, is that sufficient to lay a charge ?  Or does it need to be assessed by a third person ?     Will the degree of " offense " be decided by a police officer - or perhaps a magistrate ?   We open a Pandora's box of litigation when we use the terms " Offend " and " Insult " as the term of outcome - without proper definition as to exactly what those terms mean in law.

The legal system seems to be suggesting that somehow we can tip the entire population of Australian into a blender, turn on the power - and pour out a homogeneous tribe of people who have dispensed with their former prejudices and dislikes.   Somehow all forms of religious differences will disappear, we will be united politically - and in the heat of argument nobody will use an epithet that others may find distasteful !

This seems more of an attempt to impose " political correctness " on public figures rather than blanket the entire population with a new speech code.    It is noticeable that politicians, sporting figures, television personalities all have to very carefully avoid using terms that are common amongst the masses when they speak publicly.   The slightest aberration will bring down the wrath of the pundits - as when a sporting commentator recently referred to a player as a " Poofter " - and was quickly taken off air and made to publicly apologise.

Enacting legislature to codify comment as a crime is probably drawing a very long bow.   Prevailing custom has installed political correctness in the public domain and we would be wise to leave it at that level.  What the masses think - and what they say -  is not the business of government !