Virginia Bell formally commences royal commission role – as it happened

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• Liberal leader claims credit for ‘fixing’ Labor’s hate speech laws as they pass lower house

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The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, says the two bills on gun control and hate speech will be introduced to parliament this morning and that there has been “constructive engagement” with the Coalition over the last 48 hours.

But on whether that deal is signed, sealed and delivered, Rowland, speaking on the ABC’s Radio National Breakfast, won’t guarantee the Coalition will support the bill when introduced and she says she won’t “pre-empt” anything.

I don’t want to pre-empt any of those conversations, and particularly since they have been undertaken in good faith … some of those issues go around the listing of hate groups and that framework. And it is a fact that the opposition has sought a number of amendments to this area. I will point out that the removal of the serious vilification provisions do mean that these remaining provisions in the prohibited hate groups section do need to do a lot of work.

I think we’re really close. I mean, effectively, the laws won’t be as strong as what the government wants them to be, and that’s been public for a while. But importantly, this will still involve the strongest hate speech laws that Australia’s ever had.

We’ve got to deal with the parliament that we have, and I can’t see a pathway in the current parliament.

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Source: www.theguardian.com

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