Also Kenny, though perhaps beside the point, are you saying that all ancient Jews were communist?
Someone should tell the Chinese, poor Marx I bet he thought he was original!

Hazza, Mr Brack's is not above the law and he has to follow these laws like everyone else. It is true that polly's have parliamentary privilege but it only extends to what is said in the house. As I said before we have never had the right to free speech in this country.

Taylor I’ve got the point from the beginning if the Pastor had said that one of Mohammed’s wives was 9 when they married then that is factual. But if they said it to indicate that the Muslim faith promotes pedophile, then that is derogatory. Of my two statements in my last post one was factual and one was derogatory, which is which do you think?

As for Communism not all Jews where living in communes at the time but many were . If you bothered to actually read Marx’s little book you would see that Marx didn’t believe he had invented communism just a method he believe would work for a large population.
The Moa learnt about communism in the French quarter of Shanghi

Hello Kenny, interesting to read your comments.

Wouldn't you say that, in effect, we do have, and have had, free speech in this country? By and large you can say or publish what you like without being locked up, for instance if the government doesn't like what you say, or publish. Today we don't have many, if any laws (apart from the one under discussion) that prohibit the saying of certain things (unlike some European countries, and plenty of other more and less advanced ones). Of course we do have laws of libel which mean that we can be subject to prosecution for saying certain things about people, but that doesn't mean that we have no free speech whatsoever. And even admitting that our fairly free speech society has some limitations, this does not mean that any law that further restricts our freedom of speech must be good.

Paul - how do you think we've managed for all these years without laws against "Hate Speech", and other "Hate Crimes"? These notions have been cooked up by a cozy cabal of legal and social-science academics, the sinecured sentimentalists who staff the multicultural and anti-discrimination industries, and the duffers we have installed in Parliament House, Spring Street, Melbourne. I am yet to be convinced that they are any improvement on the old, and much-breached, ideal of "good manners" (contravention of which did not put you in danger of prison). I prefer laws enacted by goverments to be wise and limited regulations responding to genuine social reality.

"Hate Speech" laws are an infamous deployment of State Power by one side in the Culture Wars, which are being fought between factions of the limited section of the population which has ideological commitments, or at least some interest in ideas. (This is why the debate has not really caught on in the mainstream media, but is raging on the internet.) "Hate Speech" laws will never be used evenhandedly, but always in the interest of one side and their fellow-travellers against the other. The attempt to prove that religious "vilification" has really occured will always be a subjective shambles - one that we should spare our hard-working judges.

Because of my opposition to the law, if I was religiously (or even racially) vilified, I would not seek satisfaction under it - and I very much hope that other Christians won't either, as it would weaken our position against it.

There is perhaps the appearance of a paradox here, as Jesus and the Apostles repeatedly told Christians to expect persecution (e.g. Matthew 5:10-12,& 1 Peter 4:12-16). So why are we complaining? I'd argue that we still have the right as citizens to ask our Government to refrain from unnecessarily turning us into criminals, and additionally to encourage them to do their best to make good and wise laws within their legitimate sphere of responsibility.

Oh, and happy Australia Day, fellow citizens!

J walking is unlawful not to many people get fined for that. To say we managed all these years without hate speech laws is like saying we managed all these years without racial or equal op laws.

Ah, but Kenny, there you go. You are missing a vital ingredient. Race is a given. I can't help it if I'm a black men surrounded by whites who despise me, but religion at least for Christians and presumably Muslims is a matter of choice, certainly is in 2005.
Bravo Ben, well said.