Queensland’s Labor Government has voted along partisan lines to pass the most repressive speech laws in any Australian jurisdiction. The Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Bill 2024, passed shortly after 9pm on Tuesday 10th September, with 49 Labor and 2 Greens MPs supporting, and 34 LNP and 4 Katter MPs opposing the Bill.
Queensland Director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Rob Norman said, “Queensland Labor has pulled a death blanket over Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Expression of Religion with the late-night passage of the ‘The Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Bill’.
“The unelected bureaucrats of the Queensland Human Rights Commission will now have powers to deem any speech that ‘offends, humiliates, or intimidates’ any of a growing list of persons with ‘protected attributes’ as ‘harassment’ or ‘hate speech.” In effect, the Commission will decide whether, or not, public debate is respectful.
Further to this, Mr. Norman said, “This new legislation means that religious people who refer to holy texts or religious teachings that challenge sexual orientation or gender identity are open to costly action at the hands of the Queensland Human Rights Commission.
“We have entered a new dystopian era where frivolous and expensive claims, at the hands of hostile activists now hangs over the 2.5 million Queenslanders who identify as ‘Christian’. May God help us!”
The Australian Christian Lobby calls on the Queensland Liberal National Party to commit to repealing the worst Anti-Discrimination Laws in Australia’s history if elected on 26th October.
