​Last month Attorney-General George Brandis called for changes to the "offend, insult and humiliate" clause in Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, saying that they stifled freedom of speech and that was "one of the key things the Anzacs fought for".

With perfect timing, yesterday, on Anzac Day, we got to see whether he was right. Because Yassmin Abdel-Magied, the young social advocate, part-time ABC presenter and writer posted on her Facebook page: "Lest we forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine)". She deleted the post within hours and wrote a brief ­apology.

Since then, she has been under unrelenting attack. Conservative Liberal MP Eric Abetz sniffed, "Yassmin Abdel Magied's unfortunate and disrespectful Facebook post today, of all days, is deeply reprehensible."

His colleague Peter Dutton thundered, "It is a disgrace that on our most significant national day to mark the passing of people who have defended this country, this advocate seeks to make political mileage."