Tony Abbott has decided to dump changes to 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act at a time when his government is beefing up anti-terror laws.
The Prime Minister made the announcement alongside Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Attorney General George Brandis after Cabinet met in Canberra.
The Coalition had been criticised for the proposed repeal of section 18C, which currently makes it unlawful to “insult, offend and humiliate” a person or group.
Mr Abbott today told reporters in Parliament House the “proposals are now off the table”.
It was a “leadership call” made by him, he said, insisting it is a time when “everyone needs to be part of Team Australia”.
In March Senator Brandis released an exposure draft and opened the changes up to public consultation.
“I’m a passionate supporter of free speech,” Mr Abbott said, arguing the proposals were “perfectly reasonable”.
But he admitted they had become “a complication that we just don’t need”.
“I want the communities of our country to be our friend not our critic.
“I want to work with the communities of our country as team Australia.”
Mr Abbott’s call to overhaul the changes was criticised by Australian Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the government had used the new anti-terror measures as a cover to drop its controversial 18C repeal.
The Attorney General has been “rolled by his Cabinet” and “humiliated”, the Opposition Leader told reporters in Melbourne.
The decision was announced in addition to a new raft of measures targeted at combating home-grown terrorism and the practice of Australians going overseas to fight.
Agencies responsible for counter-terrorism activity will pocket an extra $600 million in extra funding over four years.
“The money will come from the budget,” the Prime Minister said, claiming the community would not thank the government if it was to “skimp” when it comes to national security.
Attorney-General George Brandis said new anti-terrorism laws would be brought to the parliament in the Spring sittings.
The laws would:
* broaden the listing criteria for terrorist organisations to ensure advocacy of terrorist acts includes the promotion and encouragement of terrorism
* make it easier to arrest terrorists by lowering the threshold for arrest without warrant for terrorism offences
* extend ASIO’s questioning and detention powers beyond July 2016 when they were scheduled to expire
* extend Australian Federal Police (AFP) stop, search and seizure powers in relation to terrorist acts and offences beyond December 2015
* make it easier to prosecute foreign fighters
* make it an offence to participate in terrorist training
* enable ASIO to request the suspension of an Australian passport or foreign passport for a dual national.
The legislation sits alongside the extra $630 million of funds earmarked to boost counter-terrorism work by the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), AFP, ASIO and Customs and Border Protection.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said preventing Australian citizens from becoming involved in terrorist activities was one of Australia’s highest national security priorities.
“We are deeply concerned this security challenge will mean that Australian citizens fighting in these conflicts overseas will return to this country as hardened home-grown terrorists who may use the experiences and skills they have gained to carry out attacks in this country,” she said.
On the back of the announcement a senior intelligence official warned the threat to the West and Australia from global Islamist terrorism is going to rise over the next five years not decrease.
He said the threat picture is more diverse and less predictable than it has been, with Syria and Iraq becoming a “magnet” for foreign fighters, significantly transforming the global terrorism landscape.
Despite South East Asia being “relatively quiet” in recent years there are also concerns the new conflicts will attract a new generation of young Indonesian jihadists.
It’s believed about 60 Australians have joined the fighting in Syria and Iraq and around 15 have died.