Government not tied to Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson's views on racial discrimination act, George Brandis says

Updated

Attorney-General George Brandis says the Government is not tied to the views of the incoming human rights commissioner, who is pushing for changes to racial discrimination laws.

Tim Wilson has resigned from his position as a policy director with the free market Institute of Public Affairs, as well as his membership of the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party, to take up the $325,000 position.

Mr Wilson says he wants the commission to focus on promoting freedom of speech, and says one of his first priorities will be pushing for the repeal of section 18C of the Federal Racial Discrimination Act.

It makes it unlawful to do an act that ''is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people'' on racial or ethnic grounds.

However, Senator Brandis says the Government has not settled on a position and he is still consulting.

"I am undertaking consultations with a number of leaders, particularly ethnic community leaders," he told AM.

"I'm not going to be commenting on what final shape the Government's proposals in relation to the Racial Discrimination Act will take.

"But Mr Wilson is entitled to his views.

"His views don't represent necessarily the views of the Government.

"I didn't appoint Mr Wilson to do this job because his views are identical to mine."

Section 18C was recently used to prosecute News Corp Australia columnist Andrew Bolt for publishing deceptive and offensive material about Indigenous people.

Mr Wilson says the issue is much broader than that particular case.

"I need to state that these issues aren't just about Andrew Bolt, they're about a principle that we universally share," he told ABC News Breakfast.

"We need an open contest of ideas, we need free speech.

"The only way to challenge and tackle offensive speech is to have more speech and for people to openly mock and ridicule things that people say they find offensive."

Mr Wilson has previously said the Human Rights Commission is an organisation that should not exist.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus says Mr Wilson is going to have difficulty performing his role given those views.

"Mr Wilson, I think, is going to have difficulty undertaking this role when he has shown such contempt for the Human Rights Commission in the past," he said.

But Senator Brandis says Mr Wilson has been appointed as a strong advocate for personal freedoms.

"People can have a view about whether or not a particular agency or organ of government should exist or not," he said.

"That doesn't foreclose them from serving that agency or organ of government while it exists."

Topics: rights, human, law-crime-and-justice, federal-government, government-and-politics, race-relations, discrimination, australia

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