The Senate sat late debating the changes, but the Nick Xenophon team and Jacqui Lambie, along with Labor and the Greens, still refused to accept the rewording.
Needless to say Senator George Brandis, a chief proponent of the changes, wasn’t happy, calling it a “sad day”.
Speaking in the Senate last night, he noted the number of times he’d been labelled a “white man” by other senators, calling such language “deeply offensive and insulting.” He said that, “In this very debate I’ve been attacked by those who favour reform because of the colour of my skin.
“If we do not believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe it at all,” he said.
Here’s George Brandis listing all the times people called him “white” and he was deeply offended and insulted. #18C pic.twitter.com/ql01EkRW4E
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) March 30, 2017
This morning, Labor MP Linda Burney tweeted that the “very idea of racist hate speech is just a joke to them,” in response to Brandis’ comments. “Respect won last night but the fight clearly isn’t over.”
The very idea of racist hate speech is just a joke to them, incredible. Respect won last night but the fight clearly isn’t over. #auspol https://t.co/B7I69H4Q8t
— Linda Burney MP (@LindaBurneyMP) March 30, 2017
A recent Fairfax-Ipsos poll found 78% of Australians support the current wording of the Act.