Family First senator say he agreed with PM to withdraw his private bill last year on the proviso it would be brought back this year

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Family First senator Bob Day has said the prime minister will be unsurprised that a new campaign to overhaul the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) has resurfaced in the new parliament because they discussed that prospect when Turnbull became leader of the Liberal party late in 2015.



Day told Guardian Australia on Monday he agreed last year to withdraw his private senator’s bill amending section 18C of the RDA – a proposal that was co-sponsored by the Liberal senator Cory Bernardi and the Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm – not to kill the proposal, but to keep it alive.

“I didn’t want to put it to a vote because I didn’t want the bill to die,” Day said on Monday. “I was prepared to be patient.”

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Day said he agreed to pull the bill after a conversation with Turnbull on the basis it would be advanced again in the new year. “We agreed, I would bring it back,” Day said on Monday.

Before he became leader, Turnbull said publicly he wasn’t opposed to debate about removing the words “insult” or “offend” from the RDA, but by October, when he was back leading the Liberal party, Turnbull ruled out changing the legislation.

Day said the prime minister expressed no view to him in their conversation about the content of his private senator’s bill, their conversation was about process, not about the substance of the change.

Subsequent to the recent election, the attorney general, George Brandis, ruled out reopening the debate in response to renewed political pressure to water down RDA protections from the newly elected Senate crossbenchers, including One Nation.

Brandis told the ABC late last month: “In September 2014 the then prime minister Mr Abbott made a decision to take reform of 18C off the table and that remains the government’s position.”

Turnbull has shown no interest in reviving the divisive debate post election. On Monday a spokesman for the prime minister said: “We have no plans to change the RDA.”

The bill advanced by Day in the last parliament seeks to remove the words “offend” and “insult” from section 18C of the RDA, a proposal the Family First senator describes as a “commonsense” view.

That proposal is still supported by Bernardi, who told Guardian Australia on Monday the proposal had “broad support”, including from the former broadcaster and now senator for Victoria, Derryn Hinch.

Leyonhjelm now proposes to go further, pursuing a bill that would remove part two A of the RDA. Leyonhjelm told Guardian Australia he did not believe his proposal would win parliamentary support but he felt an obligation to promote substantial debate.

On Monday, independents Nick Xenophon and Jacqui Lambie ruled out supporting any changes to the legislation.

“I won’t support changes to Racial Discrimination Act & talking about it is a distraction from real issues ie: unemployment,” Lambie said via Twitter.

“I can understand some of the arguments put forward,” Xenophon told the ABC on Monday. “But when you have both the Jewish community and the Arab community on a unity ticket in the same room saying we think these amendments are reckless, then you know this is an area we shouldn’t go down.”

The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, said on Monday the prime minister needed to rule out changing 18C “in the life of this parliament”.

“It only takes a couple of ... backbenchers to start threatening Mr Turnbull and Mr Turnbull will just turn to water and do whatever they say,” Shorten said.

“We’ve seen Turnbull back down on a range of issues. He backs down to the banks, he’s backed down in terms of supporting Kevin Rudd for an international position. Goodness only knows what he will do on 18C, if people put pressure on him.”