Letter to The Editor

To The Australian
Despite the federal government's failure to get its partial reform of the Racial Discrimination Act fully accepted by the Senate, political and religious censorship continues to be 'on the nose' in Australia. It is good that, recognising this, the government plans 'to keep the full reform plan as policy' so as to be able to deal quickly with future cases seriously threatening free and fair speech ('Brandis set to pull back on 18C', 30/3).
The government must also maintain a strong public stance in favour of free speech and make this a major aspect of its next election campaign; and free speech supporters, generally, should 'maintain their rage' loudly and noisily.

A careful study of the handling of the controversy in 'The Australian' (against 18C) and in Melbourne's 'The Age' (for 18C) suggests that the case for complete repeal has intellectually won the day. Some of the major arguments against 18C were largely or wholly ignored by its supporters and the repeated misrepresentation of free speech advocates as 'racists' was deplorable. Temporarily a combination of idealistic fanaticism and pandering to minorities for electoral advantage has won the day.
NJ, Belgrave, Vic